Minneapolis Police Officer Jamal Mitchell Dies in Ambush That Kills 2 Others, Including Suspected Shooter

MINNEAPOLIS– A Minneapolis police officer responding to a shooting call was ambushed and killed Thursday as he stopped to help a man who appeared to be a victim. That man ended up shooting the officer, authorities said.

The death of Officer Jamal Mitchell occurred during a chaotic situation involving two crime scenes located two blocks apart, which left three people dead, two others hospitalized in condition critically and another officer and a firefighter injured less seriously.

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“I saw the video and he was ambushed,” Drew Evans, superintendent of the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, said at an evening news conference. “I use that term for a reason.”

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said authorities were still investigating and asked people “to be patient with us because we don't know all the facts yet. We want to make sure the investigation is complete and we Let’s run it the right way.”

Law enforcement provided a brief account of what happened, starting when officers responded to a call about a double shooting at an apartment complex in the Whittier neighborhood south of Minneapolis.

While Mitchell was about two blocks from the complex, he noticed injured people. He got out of his car to help a man, who ended up shooting the police officer.

Another officer arrived and exchanged gunfire with the shooter, who died despite officers' efforts to save his life, Minneapolis Deputy Police Chief Katie Blackwell said.

This officer had non-life-threatening injuries. Evans said another person, believed to be an innocent bystander, was shot and taken to a hospital in critical condition. The firefighter was also shot and injured.

When other officers went to the apartment, they found two people inside who had been shot. One was dead and the other was hospitalized in critical condition, Evans said.

Evans said he believed the shooting was limited to the two locations and that the people in the apartment “knew each other to some extent.”

The connection between the two filming scenes was not immediately clear. Police said there was no danger to the public.

The shooting comes three months after two police officers and a firefighter-paramedic in the Minneapolis suburb of Burnsville were killed while responding to a domestic violence call. In that case, a man began shooting from a home while seven children were inside. A third officer was injured before the man died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz said Minnesotans are once again feeling the trauma of public safety officers being killed as they rushed to help people in need.

“This trauma should quickly turn to anger and a commitment that this cannot happen,” he said. “We don’t have to live this way.”

Mitchell had been with the department for about 18 months. He was a father who was engaged. Police officers lined up outside Hennepin County Medical Center, where Mitchell was pronounced dead.

“The city of Minneapolis has lost a hero in Police Officer Jamal Mitchell,” Frey said. “This officer made the ultimate sacrifice to protect and save the lives of others. His life, his service and his name will forever be remembered by the city of Minneapolis.”

The Minneapolis Police Department posted on Facebook last year that Mitchell and another officer saved an elderly couple from a house fire.

On Feb. 7, 2023, Mitchell's third day on the job, he and Officer Zachery Randall responded to a call and found a house on fire, the post states. Police ran inside and got the couple out before the house was completely engulfed in flames and destroyed.

“Their quick actions… were truly heroic in preventing this fire from becoming even more tragic,” Chief Brian O'Hara said in his message.

“He was a wonderful human being,” Blackwell said. “He was exceptional in every way.”

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Thiessen reported from Anchorage, Alaska.

The video in the player above is from a previous report.