“At one of the pre-trial hearings an investigator … Jerry Wallerich, testified that he couldn’t keep track of how many times these guys shot at each other because they shoot at each other like you and I would go out for dinner,” said Assistant Hennepin County Attorney Thad Tudor.
For nearly a decade, members of four rival gangs based in north Minneapolis have shot at each other in a feud that has left nearly half a dozen dead and several others wounded.
Law enforcement officials call it one of the most violent they’ve ever seen. One man tied to the feud, James Lamar Davis of Brooklyn Center, will be sentenced this week. But police don’t expect an end to the conflict any time soon.
Members of YNT — which stands for Young and Thuggin — and their allies, the Taliban, are in a bloody feud with members of the 1-9 Block Dipset and their allies, the Stick Up Boys. Minneapolis police officials say this conflict is particularly deadly because members of these gangs often settle their beefs with guns.
“Back in the ’80s and ’90s it was baseball bats and chains and whatever,” said Sgt. Jeff Carter, an 11-year veteran of the force who’s spent part of his career investigating street gangs. “Now everything seems to be more centered around guns.”
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