Man with gang ties dead in Wednesday shooting, 6th homicide in a week for Minneapolis
By Crime Watch MN, April 27, 2022, updated
UPDATE: The Hennepin County Medical Examiner on Friday, April 29 confirmed the identity of the decedent as Eloe Lomax. Manner of death was gunshots to the chest and abdomen.
A young man was shot and killed early Wednesday evening marking the sixth homicide in a week for Minneapolis.
We reported about 6 p.m. that Minneapolis police were dispatched to a report of a shooting near Knox Avenue North and Lowry Avenue North. Police arrived and found the victim near 33rd and Knox Avenue North, according to dispatch audio.
Shortly thereafter, police requested the block be taped off and requested Car 710 (critical incident/homicide investigators) and the Crime Lab to respond. It was clear from audio that police requested the Crime Lab to come with a screen to block the view of the body, indicating that it was a homicide.
Initial reports aired by the dispatcher stated that occupants of vehicles may have been shooting at each other.
Immediately prior to the shooting, officers indicated they were getting three or four Shotspotter activations. Audio purported to be from the gunshots at the time surfaced online. The audio indicates “burst fire,” i.e. automatic or a firearm modified to fire automatically.
Police released a statement saying that the male victim in his early 20s died at the scene. MPD stated that preliminary information indicated that shots were fired from a vehicle traveling through the area. Shots continued to be fired from the vehicle as the vehicle continued down Knox Ave North.
Friends and family have begun identifying the decedent on social media as Eloe Aki Ameen Lomax, 23. Public records show a home address on Dupont Avenue North, in north Minneapolis. Lomax’s social media indicates he’s from Chicago, Illinois.
(Eloe Lomax / from Facebook)
A source tipped Crime Watch that Lomax had gang connections, and we’ve found court documents that confirm that information.
In 2019, Lomax was charged with illegal possession of a firearm. Information stated in the criminal complaint said officers were familiar with Lomax from prior contacts and that he was known to be “associated with a street gang in North Minneapolis with a reputation for violent crime.”
(Criminal complaint from 2019 charge of illegal gun possession)
Lomax eventually pleaded guilty in the case to a misdemeanor charge of fleeing police. The gross misdemeanor charge of carrying a gun without a permit was dismissed. Lomax was sentenced to 90 days in the workhouse, but the sentence was stayed, and Lomax was granted zero time to serve.
(Court record showing 2019 dismissal of gun charge)
Last month Lomax received a stay of adjudication on another illegal gun possession charge. He was instead released into the community without supervision by Hennepin County Judge Bev Benson.
(Court record showing March 2022 stay of adjudication on gun charge)
Despite prior court record documentation that Lomax had gang connections, he was given breaks by Minnesota Courts in at least two gun cases.
Hennepin County and Minneapolis leaders are often quoted as bemoaning gun crime in the county and city. Yet, as we’ve repeatedly documented, prosecutors and the courts repeatedly treat gun crimes with a lack of seriousness by granting plea deals, dismissing gun charges and failing to properly sentence offenders including those with demonstrated violent or problematic histories.
Wednesday’s homicide marked the sixth homicide in one week, including four over this past weekend for Minneapolis.
This is a developing story and we will continue to update. Follow us here and on Twitter for the latest and breaking news.
(Top photo submitted: Lowry and Knox Ave North homicide scene)
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