One Cleared, 2 More Questioned in Shooting Near Black Lives Matter Protest

Nov. 24, 2015, 8:17 PM EST / Updated Nov. 24, 2015, 8:53 PM EST

By John Yang and Phil Helsel

Minneapolis police have released one of two people taken into custody after the shooting of five people near a “Black Lives Matter” protest over the police killing of an unarmed man — while two other people have turned themselves in.

Police said the person released was determined to have not been at the scene of Monday night’s shooting, in which five people suffered injuries that were not life threatening.

Police said earlier that a Hispanic man and a white man were taken in for questioning. The Hispanic man was later cleared, while the other man, a 23-year-old, was arrested, police said. His name was not released pending charges, police said.

Meanwhile, two other men, both white, turned themselves in Tuesday afternoon and are being questioned, police said in a statement.

The shooting happened about a block away from the Minneapolis Police Department’s 4th Precinct, where Black Lives Matter protesters have demonstrated following the Nov. 15 police shooting of Jamar Clark, who was unarmed.

The Hennepin County Attorney’s Office said that if police present a case against anyone suspected in Monday’s shooting near the protest "we will seek, as we always do, to bring the most serious felony charges that the evidence permits."

Police haven’t said what may have motivated Monday's shooting, and said the matter is still under investigation. A witness told NBC News that a group of three men were "yelling and being aggressive" and were being escorted away by demonstrators when gunfire erupted.

Anger, Prayers Follow Shooting Near Jamar Clark Protest

00:47

Minneapolis' Black Lives Matter group was among those calling the shootings at the protest a hate crime.

The prosecutor’s office also said Tuesday that a case in the shooting of Clark would be presented to a grand jury.

According to police, Clark was a suspect in an assault and was interfering with paramedics who were trying to treat a victim. He was shot in the head, officials have said. It is unclear whether Clark was handcuffed during the scuffle. The FBI is among several agencies investigating the shooting.

Image: — Hundreds of Black Lives Matter demonstrators and supporters occupy the street in front of the federal building on Nov. 24 in Minneapolis, after marching from the Police Department's Fourth Precinct.Jim Mone / AP

John Yang

John Yang is an NBC News correspondent based in Chicago, where he covers a variety of stories for “Nightly News with Brian Williams,” “TODAY” and MSNBC.

Since being assigned to Chicago in 2009, Yang has covered a number of major stories, including the deadly April 2011 outbreak of tornadoes in Alabama. His coverage was part of a "Nightly News with Brian Williams” honored with the prestigious Edward R. Murrow Award for “Best Newscast.” In 2012, he was the lead correspondent for NBC News’ coverage of the sex abuse trial of former Penn State football coach Jerry Sandusky. He also reported from Afghanistan.

Previously, Yang was based in Washington, where he was White House correspondent. He was part of the NBC News team honored with an Emmy for coverage of Election Night 2008.

In September 2007, Yang was the only television correspondent to accompany President Bush on his surprise visit to a U.S. airbase in Anbar Province in Iraq, west of Baghdad. During the visit, he conducted a one-on-one interview with the president.

Yang joined NBC in January 2007 from ABC News, where he worked in Washington and Jerusalem. As ABC News’s Middle East correspondent, Yang covered many major events in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, including the 2002 Israeli military operation in the West Bank and the final days of the standoff at the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem. Yang also spent extensive time in Iraq and was the first American broadcast reporter to interview captured al Qaeda fighters imprisoned along the Iran-Iraq border.

In 2000, he covered the presidential campaign of then-Texas Gov. George W. Bush during the Republican primaries. That fall, he covered then-Vice President Al Gore’s campaign through Election Day and the Florida recount.

In the days following the 9/11 terror attacks, Yang reported from the Pentagon and was part of the ABC News team honored with both the George Foster Peabody Award and an Alfred I. DuPont-Columbia University Award. Yang was also part of the ABC News team honored with an Alfred I. DuPont-Columbia University Award for coverage of the death of Pope John Paul II.

Prior to joining ABC News, Yang was a reporter and editor at The Washington Post for nearly ten years. As a reporter, he covered Congress and the White House. As an editor, he directed coverage of economic policy in the paper’s business section and oversaw political features in The Post’s Style section. Throughout his print career, he covered Congress and national politics. He had previously worked for The Boston Globe, Time magazine and The Wall Street Journal.

Yang was born in Chillicothe, Ohio, and graduated cum laude from Wesleyan University.

Phil Helsel

Phil Helsel is a reporter for NBC News.

Related Articles