A Monticello, Minn., man has been arrested and charged in last week’s fatal shooting of an off-duty Eagan and Eden Prairie firefighter who prosecutors say was caught in the crossfire between two groups that exchanged more than 60 rounds of gunfire in a south Minneapolis parking lot.

Marquise Trevone Hammonds-Ford, 28, was charged in Hennepin County District Court last week with first-degree riot resulting in death and two counts of illegal gun possession in connection with the May 5 shooting of 40-year-old Joseph Charles Johns behind the former Whiskey Junction bar in the 900 block of Cedar Avenue South.

Marquise Trevone Hammonds-Ford (Courtesy of the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office)

Johns was a full-time firefighter with Eagan since 2020. He was also a duty call firefighter part-time in Eden Prairie, where he lived, since 2015.

Hammonds-Ford was arrested Monday and appeared in court Tuesday. He remained jailed in lieu of $1 million.

Hammonds-Ford is a member of the YNT criminal street gang of north Minneapolis, the charges say. At the time of the shooting, he was on supervised probation on an illegal gun-possession conviction out of Hennepin County.

According to the criminal complaint:

Minneapolis police responded to the area around 12:30 a.m. May 5 after a call of a shooting with two people injured. They found Johns, who was pronounced dead at Hennepin County Medical Center of a gunshot wound to the chest.

Officers collected 63 discharged cartridge casings, which were found in clusters on both sides of the street in front of the bar.

Officers spoke to witnesses and learned that prior to the shooting hundreds of people had gathered to celebrate the anniversary of the founding of a motorcycle club.

Joseph Charles Johns, a firefighter with the Eagan and Eden Prairie fire departments, died while off duty on May 5, 2024. (Courtesy of the Eden Prairie Fire Department)

Evidence, including video surveillance, showed that Johns was shot as two groups exchanged gunfire from opposite sides of the street. Based on a witness account, Johns was directing traffic when the gunfight erupted, catching him in the crossfire.

The shootout was prompted by Hammonds-Ford, who pointed his handgun, which was modified into an automatic weapon, at an upward angle and let off a rapid succession of gunshots. Numerous others from both groups began shooting handguns across the street at each other.

When the shooting stopped, Hammonds-Ford and others sped off and dropped off an injured associate at HCMC.

Forensic testing showed that shots were fired by seven guns: six 9mm firearms and one 10mm firearm.

The bullet recovered from Johns’ chest was fired from a 9mm handgun.

Investigators created a map of the crime scene that showed a cluster of four 10mm cartridge casings in the exact spot where Hammonds-Ford fired his initial barrage of gunfire.

“The investigation into other suspects responsible for the death of (Johns) is ongoing,” the complaint states.

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Twins starter Chris Paddack wasn’t at his sharpest and the defense behind him was far from its crispest.

And that was enough to fuel more than enough offense for the New York Yankees. With the Twins limited by New York southpaw Carlos Rodón, it all resulted in a 5-1 series-opener loss Tuesday at Target Field.

Paddack, coming off of a performance in which he yielded just a run in 5 1/3 innings pitched, was victimized by some hard contact, some weak contact and his defense throughout the outing.

“We need to play a cleaner game. That was clearly not one of our best games defensively,” manager Rocco Baldelli said. The Twins misplayed some balls in the outfield and threw to the wrong bases. “ … We have to be sharper than that. Paddack, he battled out there. … There was a lot today; when you’re playing against a good club, you’ve got to do a better job of if you think you’re going to come out on top.”

After pitching around a first-inning fly ball that outfielder Willi Castro misjudged and then made an error to advance the runner, Paddack came back out and gave up three singles to lead off the second.

Though he did his part to minimize the damage by retiring the Yankees (28-15) fearsome duo of Juan Soto and Aaron Judge, two runs scored in that second inning, on a sacrifice fly and the fourth hit of the frame.

An inning later, Giancarlo Stanton lasered a Paddack changeup at 114 miles per hour into the Twins’ (24-17) bullpen. And in the fourth, on a night where things didn’t come easy for Paddack, the Yankees fully broke the game open.

With a pair of outs, Paddack walked Soto on six pitches, beginning a Yankees’ rally. A single by Judge followed, setting the stage for Alex Verdugo, who hit a ball to center that got past an outstretched leaping Castro. The ball bounced to the wall and Judge, who was on first, raced home ahead of the relay throw.

That inning marked the end of the night for Paddack, who gave up 12 hits and did not record a 1-2-3 inning in the outing.

“I could have done a better job eliminating some damage there in the fourth inning after the two-out walk to Soto,” Paddack said. “Even with the weak contact, I’m better than that. Tonight was all me. I love close games and I just let it get a little ahead of me tonight.”

It was in stark contrast to Rodón, who allowed a leadoff home run to designated hitter Ryan Jeffers in the first inning — Jeffers’ 10th of the year and first leadoff shot of his career — and then worked around a pair of baserunners in that inning; it was the Twins’ best chance of the night.

Rodón would settle in, eventually retiring 11 straight batters during the middle of his outing before departing in the sixth inning.

“We hit a bunch of balls hard, got very little out of it,” Baldelli said. “ … I think we smoked a few of them, got nothing. We did some things well. We did some other things not as well. We need to play better than that.”

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DENVER — Timberwolves guard Mike Conley missed Game 5 on Tuesday with Achilles soreness.

Wolves coach Chris Finch said Conley suffered the injury on his final 3-point attempt of Game 4 on Sunday. Trailing by eight points, Minnesota ran an inbounds play where Conley got off a tightly-contested look from the corner. It didn’t go down, and immediately after landing, Conley took a few ginger steps.

The 36-year-old slowly walked to and from the podium for his postgame interview after the contest.

Finch said Conley tried to test the Achilles in a pregame workout ahead of Game 5, but a decision was ultimately made to hold him out. Tuesday marked the second game this series that Minnesota played without a starter after Rudy Gobert missed Game 2 to witness the birth of his first child.

Minnesota responded to his absence by delivering one of its best defensive performances of the season.

Nickeil Alexander-Walker started in Conley’s place on Tuesday.

Whether Conley can be available on Thursday for Game 6 in Minnesota remains to be seen.