A robbery and shots fired in Duluth's Central Hillside kept police busy Monday night.
Shortly before 9 p.m. police officers responded to reports of shots fired in the area of North Fourth Avenue East and East Eighth Street. The suspects fled before police arrived, but police located witnesses who said several black males, both in vehicles and on foot, had a verbal confrontation.
During the confrontation, at least one of the males displayed a small, semiautomatic handgun, which was discharged several times, possibly in the direction of several other black males who were on foot in the area. No one was reported to have been injured.
Police remained in the area investigating the incident for more than two hours locating evidence, including numerous shell casings from a small caliber weapon.
Ben Damman lives on the block and said he heard five or six shots fired, but didn't see anything because he was in the back of his house. He said it was the first time in the two years he lived there that he has heard gunfire.
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Earlier in the day, Duluth police said two men robbed another at knifepoint in an apartment at 119 E. Fourth St.
According to police, officers responded to a report of a home-invasion robbery at 6:38 p.m. The male victim had been sleeping and was awakened by two black males, one of whom was armed with a small knife, who had entered the apartment through an unlocked door.
The suspects threatened the victim with the knife and demanded money. The suspects fled with the victim's cellular phone and an undisclosed amount of cash, in a car parked in the area. The suspects were unknown to the victim, but referred to the victim by name during the robbery. Police believe the robbery was not random.
The victim was not injured.
Anyone with information on either incident is asked to the call the Duluth Violent Crimes Unit at 730-5050.
