09/04/2026
Mass shootings happen too often. Look at what is the root cause if we are going to build safer communities. This was not a random act of violence it was an act of domestic violence .
Violence Free Minnesota Statement on Last Night’s Mass Shooting in Minneapolis
https://www.vfmn.org/press-media
Violence Free Minnesota extends our sincere condolences to the loved ones of the woman who was targeted in last night’s mass shooting in Minneapolis; to Dale Henry Spry, 63, and Muse Abdi Afrah, 61, bystanders who were fatally shot; to the injured victims and survivors; and to the witnesses, community members, and apartment residents who have been deeply impacted. Our hearts are with the many, many people who will carry the physical, emotional, and financial toll of this violence.
As the statewide coalition to end relationship abuse, we believe it is paramount to clearly and accurately name the nature of the mass shooting and the factors surrounding it, and to be unequivocal about how and why it started. This is not only a matter of accuracy; it is a matter of shaping a narrative that centers victims and survivors of gender-based violence and makes explicit the connections between public acts of misogynistic violence and personal acts of intimate partner violence.
Last night’s mass shooting was not a targeted police attack or ambush. The use of this narrative is not only incorrect, it overshadows the lives lost and lives impacted. Defining events like this one as the actions of a man who “snapped” obscures the underlying attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors that drive these events. Like many mass shootings in the United States, this one was foundationally an act of domestic violence targeted at the shooter’s former partner, whom he shot and injured in the presence of their 4-year-old daughter during a custody exchange before fatally shooting Dale and Muse. This act was not a loss of control; it was the use of fatal violence to maintain it.
The shooter had an extensive history of domestic and sexual violence against multiple women, including sexually assaulting and repeatedly threatening to kill the mother of his daughter in 2023. Numerous witnesses and residents informed police that they overheard him threaten to kill his ex-girlfriend prior to and during the shooting, and knew they had recently broken up.
Mass acts of violence such as these are not statistical anomalies; they are commonplace, widespread, and deeply rooted in male entitlement and misogyny. The combination of male entitlement, misogyny, and fi****ms is one of the greatest public safety threats nationwide, yet many Americans continue to remain silent about and overlook these drivers of horrific violence. Everytown for Gun Safety has identified numerous public shootings in the United States since 2014 that directly involved ties to the manosphere, an extensive online network devoted to misogyny and resisting feminism. Additionally, in at least 46% of mass shootings between 2015 and 2022 in America, the perpetrator shot a current or former intimate partner or family member as part of the rampage.
Nearly every year in Minnesota, fi****ms are the most commonly used weapon involved in intimate partner homicides; men are overwhelmingly the most frequent perpetrators of these homicides; and women are overwhelmingly the most frequent victims. Including Dale and Muse’s deaths last night, we have lost at least 16 Minnesotans to intimate partner violence and its widespread impacts this year. Half of these victims were killed with a firearm, all by male perpetrators.
Male entitlement and misogyny in America is increasing, and it demands immediate and sustained intervention at every level of our society, including and particularly from men and boys. Male entitlement is more than the socially conditioned and supported belief that men have a right to enact violence; it is the belief that men have a right to control, enforced by violence or threats of violence as necessary.
The horrific violence that took the lives of Dale and Muse last night was an act of power and control that cannot be solely linked to stress, mental health, or eviction. Many women every year in Minnesota experience housing instability and evictions as a direct result of domestic violence, including at least one woman who was brutally murdered in 2025 in Minneapolis by the boyfriend she had moved in with several months after her eviction. Many women in Minnesota every year experience suicidal ideation as a direct result of domestic violence.
Many women in Minnesota every year experience the intense and chronic stress borne of the gender pay gap; emotional labor; systemic sexism and misogyny; and the enduring, profound exhaustion of living in a society that constantly seeks to undermine their right to live free from violence. And yet, none of these women routinely commit mass shootings or annihilate their entire families.
We ask that you extend compassion to the shooter’s former partner; her 4-year-old daughter; the injured victims and traumatized onlookers; and honor Dale Henry Spry and Muse Abdi Afrah. We also ask that you do everything you can to contribute to a culture that disrupts the attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors that shaped this shooting; to a culture that fundamentally values the lives of women and girls.
This includes transforming the narrative surrounding this shooting from a focus on the heroics of law enforcement to one that centers victims and survivors of gender-based violence. It is only through our collective, continued action that we will end domestic violence in all its forms in Minnesota and nationwide. A violence-free Minnesota is our future, together.
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GoFundMe to support Dale Henry Spry's family and costs for his burial services: https://gofund.me/fe2c8dc91
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Calls to Action:
Share info about the statewide 24/7 Minnesota Day One Hotline with your networks
Call 1.866.223.1111; text 612.399.9995
https://dayoneservices.org/
Support your local domestic violence agency (with financial and other needed donations; attend their awareness events; volunteer, etc.)
Find your local agency here: https://www.vfmn.org/get-help
Attend the six anti-violence coalitions’ annual Action Day at the State Capitol at 1pm on February 11, 2027
More details to come
Spread awareness of the VFMN DATP Directory and national Call for Change Helpline for people using abuse
https://www.vfmn.org/find-a-datp-program
https://acallforchangehelpline.org/
Read Violence Free Minnesota’s Annual Intimate Partner Homicide Reports and take action on the recommendations in your community:
https://www.vfmn.org/reports
Subscribe to the Violence Free Minnesota newsletter to stay up-to-date on calls to action
https://www.vfmn.org/get-involved
