On the evening of August 8, 2021, a dispute inside a business on the 1800 block of Glenwood Avenue North in Minneapolis escalated into a fatal shooting. Darryl Wells Jr., a 25-year-old Black man, was shot multiple times. Minneapolis police responded to reports of gunfire around 7:52 p.m. and found Wells with multiple gunshot wounds. First responders administered CPR before he was transported to North Memorial Medical Center in critical condition, where he died shortly after arrival.
The cause of his death was multiple gunshot wounds, and the manner of death was ruled a homicide.
The investigation into the death of Darryl Wells Jr. suggested the incident may have been a retaliatory act connected to gang violence, although Wells himself had no documented history of gang involvement. Authorities believe he was mistakenly targeted. The shooting was thought to be in retaliation for a slaying that occurred the previous day. Surveillance footage played a crucial role in identifying the suspects. The footage showed a group of individuals, including a teenager, gathering at a makeshift memorial for a previously slain man. Subsequently, some of the individuals were seen getting into a stolen Porsche SUV and a Dodge Charger.
Later that evening, surveillance video from near the Skyline convenience store on Glenwood Avenue showed Wells entering the store. A Dodge Charger then pulled up, and two men got out and followed him inside, where they began shooting. As Wells fled the store, he was struck by the driver's door of the Porsche that had been circling the block. He continued to run before collapsing in an alley. The Porsche then drove up to the alley, and a teenage suspect and another juvenile exited the vehicle and shot Wells at close range as he lay on the ground. In total, Wells was shot at least eight times.
Following the investigation, a 17-year-old was charged with second-degree non-premeditated murder. In addition to the teenager, four men were also charged with aiding and abetting second-degree murder: Keon Elijah Pruitt, 18; Gregory Dwayane Hamilton, 25; William Ravon Johnson, 30; and Dantrell Deon Johnson, 28. In April 2025, a federal jury convicted three men, including Pruitt and Hamilton, of RICO Conspiracy and Premeditated Murder for their roles in the violent criminal street gang known as the Highs and the murder of Darryl Wells.
