On the evening of March 6, 2021, a 30-year-old Black man named Imez Wright was fatally shot at the Minneapolis intersection of 38th Street and Chicago Avenue, an area widely known as George Floyd Square. Wright was deeply involved in the community, working with the organization Change, Inc. as a mentor to Black youth and training to become a mental health practitioner.
Friends and family described him as a positive influence who was dedicated to helping at-risk young people find a better path and was seen as a leader of change.
The tragic events unfolded outside Cup Foods, the same store where George Floyd had his fatal encounter with police. Surveillance footage showed a vehicle pull up, and an argument began between Wright and an individual who exited the vehicle. Shortly after, another man, 31-year-old Shantaello Christianson, got out of the driver's side and opened fire, shooting Wright multiple times in the chest and hand before fleeing the scene. Wright was transported to a hospital, where he later died from his injuries. The dispute was reportedly linked to an internal conflict within the Rolling 30s Bloods, a gang to which both Wright and Christianson belonged.
The investigation into the shooting moved quickly. Four days after the incident, Minneapolis police arrested Shantaello Christianson and his wife in the nearby suburb of Brooklyn Center. Christianson was subsequently charged with second-degree murder for Wright's death. Authorities located his vehicle in a hotel parking lot and found him in possession of a handgun.
In October 2021, Shantaello Christianson reached a plea agreement with prosecutors. He pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of first-degree manslaughter and to being a felon in possession of a firearm. As a result of the plea deal, he was sentenced in November 2021 to 10 years in prison for the manslaughter charge, with a concurrent five-year sentence for the weapons charge.
