Man Facing 9 Charges in Double-fatal Downtown Minneapolis Shootout
A St. Paul man has been formally charged in connection to the shooting outside a downtown Minneapolis nightclub that killed two people and wounded several others.
Jawan Contrail Carroll, 24, is accused of two counts of intentional 2nd-degree murder for fatally shooting Charlie Johnson, 21, of Golden Valley, and Christopher Jones, 24, of Brooklyn Park.
Charlie Bernard Johnson in an undated photo shared by family.
Prosecutors allege Carroll is a member of the north Minneapolis “Tre Tres” street gang. He also faces seven counts of attempted 2nd-degree murder for allegedly shooting and injuring the other victims. He is set to make his first appearance in court on May 27 at 1:30 p.m.
According to the criminal complaint, on Saturday, May 22 just before 2:00 a.m., police responded to reports of numerous gunshots outside the Monarch nightclub, 322 N. 1st Ave. When they arrived, officers found several people with apparent gunshot wounds and Christopher Jones lying dead on the sidewalk near the club’s entrance.
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Seven additional victims were identified by police as having suffered gunshot injuries in front of the club. A half of a block away, on N. 1st Ave., an errant bullet from the shootout between Jones and Carroll fatally struck Charlie Johnson in the back as he was running away, the documents say.
A female witness, who was an additional victim of the gunfire, told police that she was a block south of Monarch when she heard gunfire coming from what sounded like two firearms. She was shot in the back and was treated at the hospital for a minor wound.
In surveillance video obtained by police, they noted that dozens of people around Monarch began to flee in a panic or duck for cover around 2:00 a.m. and that Carroll was standing, firing his gun at Jones.
Further investigation of the surveillance video found that Carroll and two other people had a verbal exchange with Jones and several others in his group at 1:57 a.m. About two minutes after the verbal confrontation, Jones was punched in the head by a member of Carroll’s group, the complaint says. Carroll then pulled out a gun and began shooting at Jones.
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Jones attempted to flee, but was obstructed by people in front of the nightclub. At about 1:59 a.m., Jones stopped running, turned back to face Carroll and—with a gun in his right hand—began firing at Carroll.
The two men continued shooting at one another, with Carroll aiming north down the sidewalk at Jones and Jones firing back southbound at Carroll. Throughout the commotion of gunfire, a crowd of people were still present. Two seconds before 1:59 a.m., Jones dropped to the sidewalk, where he was later found dead, with Carroll and several others seen running from the area. Near Jones' body, police found a 9mm semi-automatic handgun and a dozen spent 9mm casings.
A witness who was with Charlie Johnson at the time said they were walking in an alley directly north of the nightclub and they eventually stepped out to walk east on a sidewalk along 1st Ave. when the shooting started. Johnson began running north down the sidewalk when he was shot in the back. He eventually died of his injuries on the corner of 1st Ave. and 3rd St.
Autopsies performed by the medical examiner on each of the male victims found that Jones died from multiple gunshot wounds including two to the chest and that Johnson died from a single gunshot wound to the upper back that travelled into his chest.
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A forensic examination found that the projectiles recovered from the bodies of both Jones and Johnson were from a .40 caliber firearm, the complaint states.
Following review of video and physical evidence, witness statements and accounting for the timing, direction and trajectory of Carroll’s gunfire, officers determined that Carroll’s shooting was the cause of Johnson and Jones’ deaths, and the non-lethal wounds the seven additional victims suffered.
A few hours after the shooting, investigators learned that Carroll and one of his associates lived in separate rooms at the Comfort Inn in Bloomington. Officers conducted a search of those rooms and found a pair of distinct purple shoes Carroll was wearing during the shooting that were seen in the surveillance video, the complaint says. After officers left the Comfort Inn, one of the associates contacted police to ask about the search of his room. That associate also admitted to them that he was in downtown Minneapolis when the shootings happened and that he had been the one who punched Jones.
An additional witness, who officers knew was connected with Carroll and the other associates, was interviewed by police. He was able to identify Carroll and the two other associates from still images taken from surveillance footage during the shooting.
When the shooting occurred, authorities say Carroll had pending felony cases including 2nd-degree assault and fleeing a police officer in a motor vehicle. If convicted, Carroll faces a maximum sentence of life in prison.
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