City man shot near his home is week’s second homicide

Springfield has 8 homicides this year, matching all of 2022.

The shooting death of a Springfield man near his home late Tuesday night was the second homicide in as many days in the city and matches the number for all of last year with more than four months remaining in 2023.

Officers responded to the 600 block of South York Street just before midnight and found Michael Minter, 29, in a driveway with gunshot wounds to his wrist and abdomen, according to a Springfield Police Division incident report. He was transported to Mercy Health - Springfield, where he was pronounced dead.

Springfield Police Division Sgt. James Byron declined to share if the shooting was targeted or random, citing an active investigation. He said at a press conference that officers are working “around the clock” on the investigation.

“Gun violence obviously is a problem nationwide, but it has particularly picked up here,” Byron said. “We ask for the public’s cooperation in all these investigations.”

Dee Flack, a neighbor, said she was in bed when she heard six to eight gunshots, and when she came outside on York Street, a woman was screaming, saying that her significant other had been shot.

Flack said police officers came to the area to search for evidence, finding shell casings and blood on the back of her car.

“These people were real nice,” Flack said. “They were friendly, got along good with everybody in the neighborhood.”

Byron said the area gets “extra patrols from the police department” for other crimes but gun violence is “not an everyday thing” in the neighborhood.

Homicide