Police shut down West 66th near Southdale for active investigation

Edina police shut down West 66th Street near Southdale Mall for an active investigation.

The closure affected traffic around the mall and nearby intersections as officers secured the scene. Police have described the response as a major investigation but gave no immediate details on what prompted it or whether anyone was hurt. Authorities asked people to avoid the area while officers worked and to use alternate routes.

Isolated street closures like this often follow serious incidents, but scholars caution against leaping to simple explanations about causes. Longstanding research links concentrated poverty, unemployment, inequality and segregation with higher homicide rates in many cities. Other studies note that policing practices and public trust changed sharply after Ferguson in 2014 and after George Floyd in 2020, affecting enforcement and community cooperation.

Coverage of urban violence has shifted over time from a focus on root causes to intense debate over policing and then to more nuanced accounts. After Ferguson and the George Floyd killing, many outlets and officials emphasized overpolicing and movement-led calls to "reimagine" public safety. Later research questioned simple cause-and-effect claims, showing the 2020 homicide rise also reflected pandemic disruptions, court backlogs and economic strain.