James Duane Ortley is a 34-year-old Minneapolis man charged with the April 29, 2025 mass shooting that killed four people and wounded a fifth inside a parked car in the Phillips neighborhood of south Minneapolis. He faces four counts of second-degree murder, one count of second-degree attempted murder, and one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm, along with a separate set of charges filed after he tried to escape the Hennepin County Jail in October 2025.1Hennepin County Attorney’s Office. Ortley Charges
What Prosecutors Say Happened on April 29
Shortly before midnight, Minneapolis police responded to a shooting in the 1500 block of East 25th Street. Officers found five victims inside a vehicle. Three were pronounced dead at the scene, and a fourth died at a hospital two days later, on May 1.2Minneapolis Star Tribune. Death Toll Rises to Four in South Minneapolis Shooting
According to charging documents, six acquaintances had been together in the car. Prosecutors allege Ortley, seated in the back, shot each of the other occupants in the head before climbing out and fleeing on foot.3WSLS. Minneapolis Shooting Suspect Is Charged With Four Homicides The 20-year-old woman who survived being shot in the face identified the shooter as a man she knew by the aliases “Baby J,” “Little J,” and “Little James.” Family members of one victim told police the group had left a residence around 9:30 p.m. planning to pick up Ortley, whom they described as a close family friend. Surveillance video showed a person matching Ortley’s description leaving the vehicle. Police recovered a .380-caliber firearm matching evidence from the scene.4ICT News. Bail Is Set at $2 Million for a Man Charged With Killing Four People in Minneapolis
The criminal complaint states that the motive for the shooting remains unknown.
Ortley was arrested on May 1, 2025, in a joint operation by the U.S. Marshals Service, the Minneapolis Police Department, and the FBI. Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty called the shooting “a shocking spree of violence that tore at the fabric of our community.”1Hennepin County Attorney’s Office. Ortley Charges The complaint was amended to add a fourth murder count after the hospitalized victim died.2Minneapolis Star Tribune. Death Toll Rises to Four in South Minneapolis Shooting
The Four People Killed
All four victims were Native American:
- Evan Ramon Denny, 27, of St. Paul, pronounced dead at the scene.
- Joseph Douglas Goodwin, 17, of Minneapolis, pronounced dead at the scene.
- Merelle Joan White, 20, of Red Lake, pronounced dead at the scene.
- LeRas Francis Rainey, 28, of Minneapolis, transported to a hospital and died on May 1.5City of Minneapolis. Minneapolis Police Press Release
White, a member of the Bear Clan from Red Lake, was known by the name “Nizho Nagweyaabin,” or Second Rainbow, and was buried after a traditional American Indian service at the Red Lake Community Center on May 8, 2025.6Northern Peace Funeral Home. Merelle White Obituary Goodwin, 17, was the youngest. The fifth victim, the young woman who survived, was hospitalized in critical condition.7MPR News. Fourth Person Dies Following Minneapolis Shooting, Suspect Arrested
Ortley’s Background
Ortley had a 2021 felony conviction for second-degree assault, for which he received five years of supervised probation. Court records indicate he completed that probation in 2023, after a judge ended it early following a DWI charge in Itasca County. The felony record barred him from possessing firearms or ammunition. In 2023, police interviewed him in connection with a separate homicide investigation, and he acknowledged during that interview that his street name was “Baby James.”8NY1/AP. Minneapolis Shooting Suspect Is Charged With Four Homicides
On February 11, 2025, police arrested Ortley in connection with a two-hour crime spree across south Minneapolis that involved stolen vehicles, garage break-ins, a gunpoint carjacking at a Speedway gas station, and two shootings that seriously wounded two men. He was booked on probable cause of aggravated robbery and second-degree assault, held about 36 hours, then released by the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office without charges. Prosecutors cited insufficient evidence.9KSTP. Quadruple Homicide Suspect Arrested Months Before in Different Case
Joseph Goodwin, the 17-year-old later killed in the April shooting, was among those charged in the February spree. He faced juvenile counts of aiding-and-abetting second-degree assault and third-degree burglary, was released to his mother’s custody, and was placed on electronic home monitoring.10Minneapolis Star Tribune. Teen Fatally Shot Man on Minneapolis Street Investigators have not publicly stated whether that overlap played any role in the April killings, and the complaint does not specify a motive.
Prosecutors allege Ortley and some family members are associated with the Native Mob, a criminal street gang that originated in Minneapolis and operates across Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, North Dakota, and South Dakota.11Minneapolis Star Tribune. Three Charged in Fatal Shooting of Man After Separate Shooting Killed Four In a request to seal an arrest warrant, prosecutors described the mass shooting as a “gang-related execution shooting of five people.”12Fox 9. Minneapolis Mass Shooting Native Mob Charges
The October Jail Escape Attempt
On October 22, 2025, while being held on the murder charges, Ortley tried to break out of the Hennepin County Jail. Just after 4:15 p.m., he was meeting with a “professional visitor” in a third-floor meeting room when, according to charging documents, he pushed past the visitor and moved toward public elevators. He grabbed a fire extinguisher and used it to smash the glass on a door leading to the elevator bank.13Minneapolis Star Tribune. Charges: Alleged Mass Shooter’s Violent Hennepin Jailbreak Attempt Foiled
When corrections deputies responded, Ortley sprayed the extinguisher’s chemical discharge at them, blocking their vision and keeping them from entering the room. Five deputies needed medical treatment for chemical inhalation, with symptoms including burning and swollen eyes, and at least one deputy also sustained a hand injury.14Fox 9. Murder Suspect Attempts Jail Escape Once the extinguisher emptied, Ortley lay on the floor and shouted, “I’m done! I’m done!”15KSTP. Man Now Charged With Trying to Escape Jail
The incident brought five counts of assaulting a peace officer, one count of attempted escape, and one count of property damage.13Minneapolis Star Tribune. Charges: Alleged Mass Shooter’s Violent Hennepin Jailbreak Attempt Foiled
A Separate Killing Hours Later
About 13 hours after the mass shooting, on the afternoon of April 30, Tiago Antonio Gilbert, 34, was fatally shot a few blocks away, outside the Mino-Bimaadiziwin Apartments near the 2100 block of 17th Avenue South. Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara said it was “entirely probable” the killing was retaliatory.16ICT News. Bail Is Set at $2 Million Ortley is not a suspect in Gilbert’s death; three other men have been charged in that case.17Fox 9. Five People Charged in Six Recent Minneapolis Homicides
Current Case Status
Ortley made his first court appearance on May 5, 2025, before Judge Maximillia Utley, and bail was set at $2 million.18KSTP. Mass Shooting Suspect Makes Court Appearance Monday Senior Hennepin County Attorney Judith Cole told the court that a federal hold prevented conditional release, though court records showed no active federal cases against him at the time.19Minneapolis Star Tribune. Three Charged in Fatal Shooting
As of late October 2025, Ortley remains in custody at the Hennepin County Jail on $2 million bail.20Corrections1. Minn. Inmate Uses Fire Extinguisher to Fight Off Corrections Officers He faces four counts of second-degree murder, one count of second-degree attempted murder, and one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm for the mass shooting, plus five counts of assaulting a peace officer, one count of attempted escape, and one count of property damage for the jail incident. No trial date, plea, or resolution has been publicly reported beyond a June 25, 2025 court date referenced at his initial appearance.19Minneapolis Star Tribune. Three Charged in Fatal Shooting