By Paul Walsh
Star Tribune
MINNEAPOLIS — Prosecutors say at least 18 law enforcement officers were targeted with gunfire from a man who shot from his third-floor Nicollet Avenue apartment during an hourslong standoff last week.
Tyler Joseph O’Brien, 31, of Minneapolis was charged Wednesday in Hennepin County District Court with one count of first-degree assault for each officer he allegedly targeted, and three counts of illegal gun possession stemming from the June 9 incident near E. 28th Street and Nicollet that disrupted a busy retail and residential corridor.
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O’Brien, who was on supervised release after serving prison time for a drug and gun possession conviction, is now back in state Department of Corrections custody and awaits his first hearing on the new charges. Court records do not list an attorney for him.
Sheriff Dawanna Witt said nobody was injured during the nearly eight-hour standoff. Witt said O’Brien opened fire on at least three occasions, and law enforcement never returned fire.
Just before 1:30 p.m. , early on in the standoff, Minneapolis police supervisors were notified O’Brien had released a woman, child and dog from the unit, according to a law enforcement official briefed during the unfolding situation.
“I am grateful this situation was resolved without loss of life or significant physical injury to those involved,” County Attorney Mary Moriarty said in a statement released in concert with the charges being filed. “Responding law enforcement showed great restraint and a commitment to de-escalation.
“It was a frightening scene playing out in the middle of a residential neighborhood, and Mr. O’Brien knowingly endangered the lives of law enforcement officers and the public.”
The gunfire broke out down the street from where Alex Pretti was shot and killed by federal agents during an immigration enforcement action in Minneapolis on Jan. 24 . The midday mayhem occurred in what is known as “Eat Street,” a popular blockslong enclave of ethnic restaurants on Nicollet Avenue just south of downtown.
According to the criminal complaint:
Four deputies arrived about 1:20 p.m. and went to the apartment’s door off the deck on the back of the building. The girlfriend briefly looked at them from a window. The deputies then announced their presence and being there to arrest O’Brien. He did not reply.
The deputies slipped a camera under the door in order to get a view inside the apartment as a safety precaution, given O’Brien’s history with guns.
The camera captured O’Brien inside, both arms extended and aiming a handgun at the door. The deputies stepped back and notified emergency dispatch of the situation.
While still on the deck, the deputies saw two cameras outside the apartment that they suspected O’Brien had installed. Deputies disabled one camera and then ran past the apartment door toward the other intending to do the same.
While a deputy was passing by the door, O’Brien started shooting from inside. All four deputies raced to ground level and took cover behind a squad car as the gunfire persisted.
O’Brien fired 15 to 20 more times through windows, doors and walls toward law enforcement and civilians over the course of the standoff. Some shots hit the ground near officers and also struck armored vehicles and at least one squad car.
Police made phone contact with O’Brien, who made multiple threats to shoot officers. He also claimed to have a grenade and vowed to use it.
Once O’Brien surrendered, officers went in the apartment and recovered three handguns. The complaint made no mention of a grenade being found.
In October 2021, O’Brien was arrested during a traffic stop in Austin, Minn., and later convicted and sentenced for drug and weapons possession in 2022. He was released from prison in February 2025, while remaining under court supervision.
Department of Corrections Commissioner Paul Schnell told the Minnesota Star Tribune the arrest warrant was issued for O’Brien on March 5 , following a violation of his supervised release.
Court records also show that O’Brien, who recently lived in Hastings, Neb., has a first-degree assault conviction in that state.
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