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Mar 22, 2006 3:00 am US/Central
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Mpls. Police Say Uptown Still Safe Despite Murder
by Jason DeRusha
Minneapolis (AP) ―
More than 100 concerned Uptown business-owners and residents gathered for a community meeting Tuesday night after a 25-year-old was murdered.
They listened as police pledged to solve the murder of Michael Zebuhr.
Zebuhr was gunned down Saturday night around 10 p.m. at 31st Avenue and Girard Street, just a block from Calhoun Square. He was returning to the car, after having dinner with his mother and sister.
Zebuhr, originally from West Virginia, was a graduate student at Clemson University. His sister attends the University of Minnesota.
Police said two men in their 20s approached the group, stole Zebuhr's mother's purse and as they left, fired two shots into Zebuhr's forehead.
Zebuhr's research advisor at Clemson University, Lisa Benson, said, "That's what makes this so, very tragic. That Mike would be the most likely person to reach out and help the very people that harmed him and his family."
Investigators said they have 15 officers working the case full-time.
Minneapolis City Councilman Ralph Remington said, "This is a safe community - we know it's a safe community. But when acts like this happen, we have to get on top of it."
Before the meeting, dozens gathered near Calhoun Square to light candles, and remember a man they never met.
Lt. Marie Przynski of the Minneapolis Police Department said, "We're here this evening as a show of solidarity for this neighborhood."
One resident expressed concern about the large concentration of people with money who go to Uptown for entertainment.
"Their little handgun that they're carrying is an ATM card. And each one of us is a potential source of money," the resident said.
Al Flowers, a member of the Police Community Relations Council shared his view that people are ignoring crime in other parts of the city.
"Yes it will happen again (in Uptown) if we don't find a way to help with situation in North and South Minneapolis," Flowers said.
While many at the meeting called for more police, better lighting, and community action, there was also a call to remember the visitor to Minneapolis who should not have been killed.
Carl Holmquist called for a moment of silence.
"I just want to make sure that's the focus," Holmquist said. "Somebody died. Somebody's loved one died … and that's what we gotta remember first … and hopefully that family will get some justice."
(© 2006 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)