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Around 90 apartment units damaged in large fire at St. Louis Park complex; 3 injured

MN: DOZENS OF APARTMENTS DAMAGED IN FIRE

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    ST. LOUIS PARK, Minnesota (WCCO) — Around 90 apartment units are damaged after a massive fire at a complex in St. Louis Park, Minnesota, on Friday, according to city officials.

Crews responded to a report of smoke at the Helix Apartments, located at 7500 Hwy. 7, at 4:47 p.m. Once at the scene, they saw a “working fire,” officials said.

Flames were shooting out of the roof of the 167-unit complex early on Friday evening.

As of 8:30 p.m., the fire is under control, according to officials. Crews were working Friday night to extinguish hot spots and ensure there were no more flames. The cause is under investigation.

Roughly 20 “mutual aid fire departments” responded to the incident, according to the city.

Officials said one person was taken to the hospital with injuries that were not life-threatening and two firefighters were treated at the scene for heat-related injuries.

“It is just a lot for me and scary,” resident Jasmine Kellogg told WCCO on Friday evening.

Kellogg is a single mother with multiple sclerosis. She says the fire is a setback she doesn’t know how she’ll come back from.

“To know this was something we cherished, we worked hard for, and then it’s gone. How do I tell my daughter her place is gone?” Kellogg said.

The Salvation Army has been called to help with displaced residents, though officials have yet to disclose how many. The American Red Cross said a temporary evacuation point was open on Friday night at The Ark Church on Quebec Avenue, where food and water were available.

The complex was built in 1985 and was “extensively renovated between 2020 and 2022,” according to a news release discussing the sale of the Helix Apartments last year.

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Suspect in Berlin ramming attack shot and killed by police, authorities say

The 21-year-old man convicted in 2025 of trying to join ISIS and accused of ramming his rented vehicle into the Berlin LGBTQ+ Pride parade was killed by police on Sunday, a senior police official in Germany told CBS News.The official said the suspect charged towards police with a knife and officers opened fire, shooting the suspect. Police later said that the confrontation happened at a garden colony in the suburb of Spandau. He died at the scene.Germany's interior minister identified the suspect as 21-year-old Abdul Ballout, a German citizen with Lebanese roots. Police described him as being part of Berlin's "Islamist scene" and someone who was known to authorities.Earlier Sunday, Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt said that "everything we see here points to us dealing with an Islamic terror attack." Dobrindt said Ballout was born in Germany and that his mother was naturalized in 2002, three years before he was born. He said the suspect had been convicted in Berlin in the past.Berlin prosecutors said Ballout shared ISIS propaganda on Instagram in 2024 and the following year traveled to Lebanon "with the intention of proceeding from there to Syria to join ISIS." However, he was arrested and sentenced to three months in prison. He returned to Germany in November 2025 and he was arrested in May for "preparing a serious act of subversive violence," prosecutors said.He was sentenced to a year and ten months in jail, but this was suspended, partially in recognition of the time he had spent in jail in Lebanon and pre-trial detention, and partially because he admitted to the crimes and distanced himself from ISIS, prosecutors said. In a separate investigation in July 2026, police launched a search at Ballout's home in Berlin-Schöneberg prompted by an initial suspicion of a violation of Germany's Weapons Act. However, only a toy gun was found during the search and the case was subsequently dismissed.Police said they believe Ballout rented the vehicle used in the attack, but it remains unclear if he was the driver. He was described as being of slim build, about 6 feet 3 inches tall, with black hair and wearing a black hoodie with white pants.Police officers stand near a vehicle crashed into a tree after driving into a crowd near Berlin's annual Pride event, in Berlin, Germany, Sunday, July 26, 2026.  Markus Schreiber via AP Authorities are also working to determine if Ballout acted alone. Investigators believe that one or more people may have left the vehicle after it came to a stop. Some victims also suffered stab wounds, raising the possibility that others were involved in the attack, but authorities have not confirmed that. Dobrindt said the suspect is believed to have injured people with a machete.A man with Iranian citizenship was arrested after the attack, but police have not confirmed any involvement in the attack, the AP reported earlier Sunday.Chancellor Friedrich Merz had vowed that law enforcement would find the suspect."I would like to say this to Christopher Street Day participants here in Berlin but also across Germany: Don't let yourselves, let us not let ourselves, be intimidated," he said Sunday. "These acts have only one purpose: They aim to divide our society. They want to take away from us the most important thing we have: Namely our openness and our freedom."Berlin's fire service said that of the injured, three have life-threatening injuries, eight were seriously injured, and five had slight injuries. Police have not identified the victim who was killed. Bouquets, candles and Berlin bears are placed in front of the landmark Brandenburg Gate one day after the car ramming attack on people on the outskirts of Berlin's Christopher Street Day (CSD) parade on late July 25, 2026.
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