Interesting take on the situation. More guns! Do it for the (criminal) children!

Sword of interesting...

JonL it took a couple seconds but I applaud your signature line

If someone could refresh my memory. Didn't someone in the Twin Cities defend themselves with sword a couple of years ago too?

Yep, sure did. Happened around 4 years ago. Here is an article about it from the MNDaily.

Thank you.

There also was an incident a couple years back on S Lyndale (IIRC 3200 or 3300 block), where some guys invaded the 3rd floor apartment of another group of guys, and one got cut with a katana. The word was the perps and victims were not unknown to each other (something like one group sold the other some drugs, and the returning group decided they wanted both the drugs and the money). The guy who got cut lost some function in his arm.

I'd have been kinda pissed if I were Shawn Phillips.

Maybe it was the Lyndale one I can't remeber, just that it happened before & will happen again.

Did a little leg work. It was August 06, and the 3100 block of Lyndale S.

A Hossem Chalbi lost a finger. He and two others were arrested, Iman Ahmed Abdelhakim and Mohammed Khalil.

I did a bit more looking at it. Seems Mr. Chalbi is already dead, not even 20 years old.

Ah, here's the original:

Three teens charged in sword attack
The victim of a burglary turned the tables on his attackers, leaving one minus a finger, charges say.
Margaret Zack, Star Tribune

Last update: August 11, 2006 – 11:30 PM
Three teenagers were charged Friday with a sword attack in a south Minneapolis apartment that left one of them with only four fingers on one hand.

The finger was found in the entryway, the sword was in the bathroom and broken pieces of a gun were in the living room, according to court documents released Friday.

All three are charged with two counts of first-degree burglary involving an assault, which occurred at 3:30 a.m. Wednesday in an apartment in the 3100 block of Lyndale Avenue S.

The suspects are: Hossem Chalbi, 18, of Minneapolis, charged as an adult; and Iman Ahmed Abdelhakim, 17, of Columbia Heights, and Mohammed Khalil, 16, of Minneapolis, both charged as juveniles. The severed finger belonged to Khalil, according to court documents.

Hennepin County Attorney Amy Klobuchar said her office is seeking to have the juveniles tried as adults.

Hyet Chalbi, Hossem Chalbi's mother, said Friday that her son, who remains jailed, called her and said he doesn't know what happened.

She said her son is a "nice boy" who's never been in trouble. And since she had an accident at work and can't walk, "He helps me with everything. He cleans the house every day. He listens to me."

She also described the other suspects as "nice boys."

Court documents gave this account:

When police arrived at the apartment building, they found a bloody trail leading to the apartment, where they saw evidence of a struggle and blood all around.

They also found pieces of a wooden sword sheath throughout the apartment.

Two men were in the apartment when one answered the door and a man with a gun forced his way in. Three males followed him. As the victims were forced to lay on the floor, the intruders found the sword.

One victim struggled with an intruder for the gun while the other victim won a battle for a samurai sword.

That victim started swinging the sword at the four men, and he eventually chased the intruders from the apartment.

Chalbi was badly cut on his arm "consistent with a sword slash," and Khalil lost a finger and had cuts to his abdomen, the charges said.

Abdelhakim was released from custody Friday afternoon and is under house arrest.

Police Lt. Gregory Reinhardt said there are more witnesses to be interviewed and that one suspect remains at large.

Margaret Zack • 612-673-7212

first degree burglary and assault and one of the guys had a gun. he has been release on house arrest? Maybe it is me, but if you get a DUI you can end up on house arrest/monitor. Does something seem wrong with him being on house arrest for invasion and assault and a gun being used in this even if he did not hold it?

I'm sure the real story of why these "nice boys" were trying to kill each other will only be known to them and they couldn't tell the police the real reason for the break in. Mom apparently doesn't grasp the severity of what was going on.