A 28-year-old Monticello man, who authorities said is a known gang member with a lengthy criminal record, has been charged in relation to the fatal shooting of a firefighter earlier this month in south Minneapolis.
Marquise Trevone Hammonds-Ford, of Monticello, was charged with first-degree riot, machine gun possession and gun possession by a prohibited person in relation to the death of Joseph C. Johns, a firefighter for the Eagan and Eden Prairie fire departments.
If Hammonds-Ford is found guilty of the felony charges, he could face up to 35 years in prison and $100,000 in fines. He is currently in custody.
The 40-year-old victim, an Eden Prairie resident, was an Eagan firefighter since 2020 and a duty-crew firefighter with Eden Prairie since 2015.
According to a criminal complaint, Johns was killed during a shootout at 12:30 a.m. May 5 between groups standing on opposite sides of the 900 block of Cedar Avenue in Minneapolis.
At the time, Johns was standing outside a bar directing traffic when the gunfire erupted, catching him in the crossfire, while hundreds of individuals gathered at the bar to celebrate the anniversary of the founding of a motorcycle club.
Surveillance video showed the altercation was initiated by “Group B” as identified in the complaint. According to video footage, the group was “led and/or incited by” a man in a red hooded sweatshirt who wielded a handgun with an extended magazine and yelled provocatively while pointing his firearm at “Group A.”
According to the criminal complaint, the shootout was prompted by Hammonds-Ford, who, in addition to his provocative and threatening gestures, pointed his firearm at an upward angle, over the heads of the men in Group A, and let off a rapid succession of gunshots.
Despite his face being covered, the man was identified immediately by multiple civilian and law-enforcement witnesses as Hammonds-Ford. Afterward, numerous individuals from both groups began shooting handguns across the street at each other.
The complaint called Hammonds-Ford “a well-known member of the YNT criminal street gang hailing from the ‘highs’ of North Minneapolis,” and he has been the subject of numerous criminal investigations and is presently on parole stemming from an illegal gun-possession case.
Court records show Hammonds-Ford’s lengthy criminal record, including a prior conviction for threats of violence from April 17, 2017, a conviction that prohibited him from possessing any firearms or ammunition.
Surveillance video showed Hammonds-Ford firing a handgun modified into an automatic weapon with an auto-sear or “switch.” Officers found 63 discharged cartridge casings at the scene and subsequent forensic testing established the casings were fired by seven separate firearms.
Johns’ body was brought to the Hennepin County Medical Examiner’s Office, where an autopsy was performed and the cause of death was determined to be homicide by a single gunshot wound to the chest.
The bullet recovered from his chest was later examined and was determined to be consistent with having been fired from a 9mm handgun.
According to a map of the crime scene identifying the locations of the casings, investigators observed a cluster of four 10mm casings located in the precise location from where Hammonds-Ford fired his initial barrage of gunfire.
Investigators also observed 16 casings, all fired from the same firearm. Given the location of the casings and the visual and audio evidence from surveillance footage, investigators concluded that Hammonds-Ford was the individual who possessed and fired the 10mm firearm during the shootout.
Following the shootout, surveillance video showed Hammonds-Ford and two others pulling up to the Hennepin County Medical Center in Minneapolis, where a man who looked like Hammonds-Ford jumped out of the vehicle, grabbed a wheelchair for one of the other men who had been shot during the shootout and re-entered the truck, which then sped off and left the man at the hospital to receive medical care.
The investigation into other suspects responsible for the death of Johns is ongoing.
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