Business and police cooperation worked Friday night

Just hours before an innocent bystander was shot to death in downtown Minneapolis Friday night, police say a similar scenario was run through at roll call.

"We try to think of bizarre things frankly. We talk about all kinds of possible scenarios and plan for the worst in case it happens," said Police Inspector Rob Allen.

A few hours after roll call the worst did occur. A gunman, apparently aiming at one person, missed and struck 31-year-old Allen Reitter. The Minnetonka Mortgage Broker was out with friends.

Because of the police planning. officers nabbed Derick Dasean Holliday within minutes of the deadly shooting. "If you don't plan it out all the officers will converge where the victim is," said Inspector Allen. Allen said while some officers sped to the crime scene, others reported to perimeter posts and it was just seconds before one of the officers saw the gunman running toward them.

The officer gave chase down city streets and into an alley. Police say the gunman tossed his gun behind a pizza shop and then kept running.

But police said another preventive step aided officers at that point. Inspector Allen said police, bar owners and bouncers meet monthly to discuss a variety of things. One of the items they've discussed is when a perpetrator, or someone who looks like he's being pursued, runs for a club those at the door stop him and try and close the doors to entry. Police said having a suspect try and blend into a crowd can be dangerous.

Friday night when bouncers at the Karma Club spotted police chasing Holliday toward their club, the bouncers did as rehearsed and shut the front doors, then tackled the gunman holding him until police arrived to arrest him.

Inspector Allen called what the bouncers did "heroic." Allen added, "they're our eyes and ears most of the time but here on Friday night they actually came to our assistance and really took some heroic action to stop this guy from getting into the club and being much harder to locate."

Police investigators are reviewing videotape from numerous downtown cameras to see if the deadly shooting was captured on tape. But even if it wasn't, police said the suspect, who turned 21 just the night before the killing, confessed to opening fire.

As tragic as Friday's deadly shooting was police said they're glad they had a plan for just such an awful event and that it worked and they managed a quick arrest.

Derick Holliday has been charged with first degree murder, first degree attempted murder and first degree premeditated murder. Hennepine County Attorney Amy Klobuchar said the attempted murder charge is because Holliday missed the person he intended to shoot. He is being held on $2 million bail. He is expected to make his first court appearance on Tuesday.

By , KARE 11 News

(Copyright 2006 by KARE. All Rights Reserved.)

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