Five people were shot and wounded Friday in Minneapolis' Dinkytown neighborhood, the latest incident in a spring full of violent crime near the University of Minnesota.

Just before midnight Friday, police responded to a call of shots fired in the 400 block of SE. 14th Avenue. Officers found three men and two women with noncritical gunshot wounds, two of them grazed, police spokesman John Elder said. All five were taken by ambulance to local hospitals.

The suspect fled before police arrived, Elder said, adding that the shooting appeared to have happened outdoors.

Other recent crimes in the U area have included numerous violent robberies, mostly of cellphones. A man died of a gunshot wound in March.

May brought nine robberies, seven accompanied by assault, as well as one attempted robbery and one aggravated assault, according to the U's Department of Public Safety. At least a few involved guns.

Cellphones were taken, and sometimes cellphones alone, in all of the robberies.

"Campus community members are advised to: Avoid using your phone while walking. A distraction like this makes you an easier target," the department warned in a May 10 advisory.

Six more robberies occurred after that advisory was issued, including two in June. Again, cellphones were taken in all of them.

Most robberies were accompanied by assaults — one victim, police said, was pistol-whipped in the face. Descriptions of suspects and their vehicles varied.