MINNEAPOLIS (KMSP) -
A jury returned a guilty verdict Thursday against a Minneapolis man accused of stabbing of two park police officers along Minnehaha Creek last summer.
Marsenior Pede Johnson, 39, was convicted of attempted murder following a two week trial. After six hours of deliberations, jurors returned guilty verdicts on two counts each of second-degree and first-degree assault.
Johnson called 911 and made a fake report of a robbery to lure the Minneapolis Park Police officers onto a pedestrian bridge over the creek near Bryant Ave. S.
When the officers went to make contact with Johnson, who they thought was the victim of the reported robbery, he stabbed one officer in the chest with a knife. The officer's life was saved by his body armor, which prevented the knife from penetrating. The suspect then stabbed the second officer in the upper back.
A second phase of the trial will begin on Monday.
