Carlton Johnson, 35, faced an eviction case and had been investigated months earlier after displaying a handgun.
MINNEAPOLIS, MN — The man authorities say carried out a deadly shooting at a downtown Minneapolis apartment building was a 35-year-old resident who faced an eviction dispute and had previously been investigated after displaying a handgun, according to officials and court records.
Carlton Johnson was killed in an exchange of gunfire with police after the Sept. 2 shooting at Shoreline Plaza near Loring Park, Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension Superintendent Drew Evans said Thursday. Authorities said Johnson killed two residents and wounded three other people before officers confronted him. Two Minneapolis police officers were shot during the response, and a third officer was injured in another way. The officers were expected to recover.
Investigators said the violence began outside the apartment building during an arranged child custody handoff. Johnson shot and wounded a woman believed to be the mother of his child, Evans said. The child was not injured. Johnson then shot two building employees before taking an elevator to the ninth floor, where authorities said he killed two residents. Investigators had not determined whether those residents were deliberately targeted or encountered by Johnson in the hallway.
Authorities said the circumstances leading to the shooting included a domestic violence component, but investigators were still working to determine Johnson’s actions and motives throughout the attack. Police had responded to the building after a 911 call shortly after 4:30 p.m. Officers entered within minutes and followed the sound of additional gunfire to an upper floor. Officials said visibility inside was sharply reduced by a haze whose source had not been publicly explained.
Johnson had come to the attention of police months before the shooting. Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty said Minneapolis police responded to an encounter June 25 in which Johnson displayed a handgun that remained in his waistband. Johnson had a legal permit to carry the weapon, she said. Prosecutors reviewed the incident but did not file charges because they determined there was insufficient evidence to prove a criminal charge beyond a reasonable doubt.
Johnson also was involved in an eviction case at Shoreline Plaza. Apartment management served him an eviction notice in June alleging six lease violations between January and June 13, according to court records reported by the Minnesota Star Tribune. The allegations included assaulting another resident, openly displaying a firearm and making a threat to kill someone. Management later reached an agreement that allowed Johnson to remain at the building, and he was scheduled to return to Hennepin County court Sept. 11 in connection with the case.
Public court records also showed earlier encounters with the criminal justice system. Johnson pleaded guilty in 2012 to violating a contact order in a domestic abuse case. In 2018, he was charged with domestic assault after his sister told police he assaulted her during an argument, according to a charging document. That assault charge was later dismissed after Johnson pleaded guilty to misdemeanor property damage. He received a 90-day jail sentence, with 86 days stayed under his probation terms.
Residents described Johnson as someone who was known around the apartment building and sometimes displayed a firearm. One resident told the Associated Press that he had tried to avoid Johnson after moving into the building in June because of Johnson’s behavior. Another resident said he had encountered a person with a handgun in a hallway earlier in the week and reported the encounter to building management. Such resident accounts describe concerns before the shooting but do not by themselves establish what motivated the attack.
The shooting left two victims and Johnson dead and forced some residents from their homes while investigators processed the building. Sixteen displaced residents sheltered overnight at a nearby church, and the Red Cross provided assistance, according to Minneapolis City Council member Elizabeth Shaffer. State investigators continued examining the scene Thursday as authorities worked to establish the full sequence of events and determine whether Johnson specifically targeted the two residents killed on the ninth floor.
Author note: Last updated September 3, 2026.