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Local Educators Pay Tribute To Andre Conley, 17, Killed In Mpls. Drive-By Shooting

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- A bold show of unity after a high school senior was killed while standing outside a corner store.

It happened Monday at about 4:30 p.m. in north Minneapolis. Another man was also hit and listed in serious condition at the hospital.

Right outside of a neighborhood store on Fremont Avenue and Dowling, there is broken glass and there are broken hearts.

It was supposed to be 17-year-old Andre Conley's final year at nearby Patrick Henry High School. But the teen's final day was Monday outside the corner store.

He and another man were shot, by someone passing by, police are looking for suspects, his principal is searching for answers. Yusuf Abdullah is the principal at Patrick Henry High School, "Andre has a smile on him, especially when he's in a good mood. Andre has a smile on him that would light up a room."

Amidst distance learning, the educators from different districts, stepped out of the classroom to stand up for students. Ms. Mauri Friestleben is the principal at North High School, she said to Andre's principal, "I hope that you see our presence here today means that you are not alone."

She and dozens of others paid tribute to the student's principal and grieving community, she told WCCO, "This is not Henry's pain to grieve alone, it's all of Minneapolis' pain and MPS pain to bear together."

They vowed to lean into their students and support one another amidst yet another loss. Abdullah told his fellow school leaders, "I have no answers right now but we gotta do what we can do to settle this down cause tight now it's a hot mess."

Both the shooting victims worked on the Lacy Johnson Congress campaign. A spokesperson says they are shocked and saddened, saying they lost two motivated members of their outreach team. They don't think the shooting was related to the campaign.

There is a memorial vigil set for Wednesday at 4 p.m. at North Fremont and Dowling avenues.

A GoFundMe account has been set up to help his family with expenses.

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