Charges dropped in St. Anne's Place attack after MPD misidentifies attacker

UPDATE: Hennepin County prosecutors have dropped charges against a man believed to be a suspect in a robbery at a Minneapolis homeless shelter.

Prosecutors dropped the case against Robert Brent III after learning that Minneapolis police had mistakenly identified him as the person who pistol-whipped two people and fired a gun in St. Anne's Place on September 5.

“MPD immediately shared this information with us as part of their ongoing investigation, and when we learned this information, we immediately began the process of filing a written motion to dismiss,” the district attorney's office said in a news release. “Mr. Brent will be released from custody as soon as possible.”

The investigation into the attack is ongoing.

A second person has been charged in connection with an attack on a Minneapolis homeless shelter on Sept. 5, the Hennepin County District Attorney's Office announced.

Robert Russell Brent III, 35, was charged with two counts of second-degree assault, illegal possession of a weapon, threatening violence and second-degree riot.

As previously reported, officers responded to a disturbance at St. Anne's Place in Minneapolis on September 5. The attack began when a group of women yelled at a resident of the homeless shelter to move her car.

According to prosecutors, Brent struck two residents of the home with a handgun, hitting one victim multiple times in the head and the other in the eye, causing vision problems. Brent also reportedly told the victim that they better back up because he had a gun, then fired two shots into the air.

The group followed the residents in the shelter, and prosecutors said Brent threatened to shoot the women and children.

Surveillance video shows Brent pointing a gun at the home's residents, one of whom is carrying a toddler, before shooting at a resident's unoccupied car.

Eureka Dominique Riser was charged Friday with second-degree riot and criminal damage to property. Prosecutors say she struck the front of the building and a side door with a baseball bat, shattering the glass.

According to prosecutors, Brent and Riser caused at least $10,000 in damage and the shelter's residents had to be evacuated and relocated to another building for safety reasons.