Man With Paraplegia Shot During Carjacking

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- A Minnesota family wants answers after their paraplegic loved one was carjacked and shot multiple times Monday morning.

Family members say 52-year-old Sylvester Tart was inside his dark green Ford Expedition on Monday morning when two men shot him and made off with the SUV.

It happened just feet from his front door on the 2900 block of Columbus Ave South.

Minneapolis police said the suspects later dumped the vehicle on the University Avenue southbound ramp off eastbound Interstate 694 around 9:15 the same morning.

The victim's niece, Kaniesha Miller, told WCCO her uncle is a paraplegic from being shot another time about 10 to 15 years ago.

Miller said Tart is recovering from two gunshot wounds in the chest which also injured his arm at Hennepin County Medical Center.

The family hopes anyone who saw something on Monday morning will help bring the right people to justice.

Miller said Tart's mother woke up to the sound of gunfire Monday morning and suddenly saw her son wounded and lying in the street.

The brokenhearted mother called for Miller.

"I actually had to run out here and find that Sylvester was laying in the street in a puddle of blood screaming for help," Miller said.

Miller said her 52-year-old paraplegic uncle told her two men approached his dark green Ford Expedition and told him to get out.

The SUV has special controls so he can drive it.

"I don't really think they even gave him a chance," Miller said.

Minneapolis police said the suspects shot Tart twice and he fell out of the vehicle before they took off.

Police said the suspects ditched the vehicle during the busy morning commute on Monday on the University Avenue southbound ramp off eastbound 694.

Police want anyone who was in the area to think about if they saw the vehicle or some men with it.

Minneapolis police did not give descriptions of the men they are looking for on Friday.

Police are hoping someone in the area saw the suspects and will call the Minneapolis Police Department at 612-673-2616. A person can also text their tip into 847411 (TIP411). Enter MPD, a space and then the information. These text messages are assigned a tip number and the police department has no way of identifying the source of the information. All texts are anonymous. Persons may also call the MPD TIP Line at 612-692-TIPS (8477).