MINNEAPOLIS — Carlton Johnson II had a long history of threats and violence that ended Wednesday when he allegedly shot six people in downtown Minneapolis, killing two and wounding two police officers.

In June, Johnson, 35, allegedly walked around Shoreline Plaza — where Wednesday’s mass shooting occurred — waving a gun and threatening to kill someone, according to court records.

That and other menacing behavior had led Shoreline Plaza’s owner to launch eviction proceedings the same month.

One man who lived in the building even went to police and accused Johnson of threatening him with a gun on June 25, though no charges were filed.

Johnson, who police say was killed in an “exchange of gunfire” after Wednesday’s rampage, was also hit with a restraining order in 2023 for allegedly sexually assaulting and threatening a woman, Hennepin County court records say.

In that case, he allegedly sent the woman a string of 120 text messages and pretended to be a police detective. “I was terrified by his numerous explicit death threats,” the woman said in a court document.

Johnson’s family and friends could not be reached for comment.

On social media, Johnson performed skits aimed to boost himself as an influencer but court filings and tenant interviews belie that image.

Johnson racked up 34 separate criminal cases in the Twin Cites. Most of those cases involved traffic violations but he was also charged in two assaults and two misdemeanor drug cases.

In 2018, Johnson told his sister he “was not afraid to shoot people in the face” when she booted him out of her apartment. He was charged with domestic assault after his sister complained he had roughed her up.

The domestic assault charge was dropped after Johnson pleaded guilty to misdemeanor property damage. He was sentenced to 90 days in jail, but 86 days of the sentence were stayed under the terms of his probation agreement.

At the time of this week’s shooting, Johnson was subject to an ongoing child protection matter involving the 4-year-old daughter of the same woman who filed for the 2023 harassment order, Hennepin County court records show. Johnson was the girl’s father.

His anger toward another woman in his life with whom he shared a daughter allegedly precipitated Wednesday’s shooting.

Nyemuoch Gatkuoth Pal, who also had a daughter with Johnson but was not the woman who filed the restraining order against Johnson, was one of his shooting victims, according to a close friend. Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension Superintendent Drew Evans said a custody exchange was taking place when Johnson started shooting.

One of Johnson’s daughters was in the apartment at the time of the shooting but was not physically harmed and was evacuated from the scene. A man who lived in the apartment complex with Johnson said he had been threatening to kill an ex-girlfriend over a breakup.

“The role that domestic violence continues to play in mass casualty incidents and other situations where people are shot and killed continues to be a problem that we need to ... figure out as a society,” Evans said.

Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty said on Thursday that Johnson’s alleged June gun threat against a fellow tenant was submitted to her office by the Minneapolis Police Department on Aug. 20 for potential criminal charges.

The case was not charged after an “experienced attorney” in the county attorney’s office reviewed it and found that there was likely “insufficient evidence to prove a charge beyond a reasonable doubt,” Moriarty said in a statement.

She added the evidence showed that Johnson, who had a legal permit to carry, “displayed the weapon but it did not leave his waistband.”

The neighbor who had been threatened by Johnson also filed a petition for a harassment restraining order against him in Hennepin County District Court. “I’m afraid to enter and exit my apartment for fear of my safety and well-being,” the man wrote.

Moriarty said Johnson’s conduct was also flagged for an Extreme Risk Protection Order (ERPO), which would have meant Johnson had to turn over his guns. An additional review found insufficient evidence to file the ERPO.

Prosecutors in Minnesota have used these so-called “red flag” orders to take guns away from other individuals who were planning or threatening to kill others, actions credited with preventing other tragedies.

Johnson hailed from Chicago, according to his Facebook page, but appears to have spent a good chunk of his life in the Twin Cities, including living in Brooklyn Park, Minneapolis and Fridley.

Johnson’s Facebook page prominently displays a Bible excerpt: “All things are possible through Christ who strengthens us Philippians 4:13.”

On Facebook, he wrote that he attended three different suburban Twin Cities high schools and went to Anoka-Ramsey Community College.

A spokeswoman for Anoka-Ramsey said Johnson started as a student there in 2010, pursuing an associate degree. He last attended in 2016, but there are no records of him graduating, the spokeswoman said.

His Facebook page also said he has worked since 2015 as a machine operator at Quanex, a Houston-based building products company with operations in Minnesota. A Quanex executive said in an email the company has no records of him working there.

Johnson also wrote on Facebook that he was an Amway “business owner.” Amway said he registered as a business owner during the 2016-17 contract year only, and records indicate his business recorded no purchases or sales activity.

At the time of the shooting, Johnson was fighting an eviction proceeding based on a series of threatening incidents at Shoreline Plaza, court records show. His lease began in March 2025, court records indicate.

Attorneys for the apartment complex, formerly known as Loring Towers, served him with an eviction notice on June 16, claiming Johnson breached his lease on six occasions between Jan. 16 and June 13.

The eviction notice claimed he assaulted another resident in March, and he walked around the complex with a firearm in June while making “multiple statements to other residents” that he “would kill someone.” Two days later, the letter said, he flashed his gun again.

On June 25, Johnson “accosted staff” after discovering someone had complained to the police about his behavior. “He attempted to bribe staff to tell him who had called the police,” according to the petition filed by the building’s owner.

On Aug. 3, Johnson’s attorney responded by claiming Johnson never breached his lease, citing a state law that “prohibits landlords from restricting the lawful carry or possession of firearms by tenants or their guests.”

In the filing, Johnson claimed that he was issued a license to carry a handgun by Hennepin County authorities before he ever displayed a weapon to anyone at the property. He also denied assaulting any other residents and claimed he “never threatened to kill or harm any person with the handgun.”

Johnson’s first conviction came in 2012, when he pleaded guilty to violating a contact order in a domestic abuse case. The sentencing order shows Johnson received probation and a $50 fine.

Johnson’s social media accounts prominently note that he is a “digital content creator,” and he has posted several videos on YouTube and Instagram under the moniker “King Carlton TV.”

“I’m the best content creator in MN,” he wrote on YouTube.

Some are mundane: playing basketball at a local gym and live commenting on a UFC fight. Others celebrate drinking, smoking and selling marijuana and playing video games. He also recorded himself climbing over the Spoonbridge and Cherry sculpture in Minneapolis along with reenactments of the film “Friday.”

Then there are situational videos starring Johnson, with titles including “When your friend gets kicked out of the house” and “That coworker that is always complaining.”

In one long video, Johnson and several women and men are holding a conversation in which Johnson declares that the “alpha male” is “disrespected” and “walked over” in society.

Later, the subject of divorce comes up when a woman says she got divorced because her husband “put his hands on me.”

Johnson tells the woman that was because “you brought out the worst in him.” Another woman in the video then told Johnson, “You just justified striking a woman. She brought the worst out of you, so you strike?”

Johnson replied, “If you bringing the best out of a man, he’s not striking you.”

—Star Tribune journalists Victor Stefanescu, Matt DeLong, Abby Simons, Amanda Anderson and Paul Walsh contributed to this report.

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