Minneapolis shooting: Police investigate motive after gunman kills 2, injures 4 others

CNN
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Minneapolis police are searching for a motive as they investigate two shootings Thursday night that left two people dead — including an officer hailed as a hero — and also injured four others.

Minneapolis officer Jamal Mitchell, 36, was one of two people killed by a gunman who ambushed him as he tried to provide medical assistance to injured people, authorities said. The suspect was also killed.

Another police officer was injured and authorities later found three other civilians who had been shot, one of whom died instantly.

“There are no words to adequately describe this tragedy,” Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara said Friday morning. “This is the worst call a police chief can receive.”

A Minneapolis police officer and a firefighter suffered non-life-threatening injuries and have since been treated and released, police said. The other two victims include a person who was shot in their vehicle outside an apartment and another who was found inside an apartment, Minneapolis police said. They were still at the hospital Friday afternoon.

Nationwide, the United States suffered at least 180 mass shootings in the first five months of this year, according to the Gun Violence Archive. Like CNN, the records define a mass shooting as one in which four or more people are shot, not including the shooter.

And in the first four months of this year, at least 136 police officers were shot in the line of duty — 20 of whom were killed, according to the National Fraternal Order of Police.

“This cannot be the norm,” Minnesota Governor Tim Walz said Thursday evening.

Here's what we know so far about the murders and the investigation:

Police initially responded to a call about two people shot at an apartment building in the Whittier neighborhood of Minneapolis around 5:15 p.m. Thursday. When officers arrived, someone immediately shot at them and the officers returned fire, Deputy Police Chief Katie Blackwell said.

As Mitchell approached the scene of the double shooting, he spotted injured people nearby who needed medical assistance, Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension Superintendent Drew Evans said during a press conference Thursday evening. While helping the injured suspect, the suspect pulled out a gun and continued shooting at Mitchell after he fell to the ground, police said in a news release Friday.

The officer was shot about a block and a half to two blocks from the apartment, authorities said Thursday evening. Mitchell was taken to a local hospital where he later died.

Witness Reuben Molina was watching television with his girlfriend in a third-floor apartment when he heard a “bang.”

“Then we heard it over and over again, in rapid succession, and then she and I were like, 'Oh, those are gunshots,'” Molina told CNN affiliate WCCO. He said he thought the sounds were coming from the floor below them.

Molina said they left the apartment to see what was happening. He told WCCO he constantly heard gunshots and saw “people shooting,” but he couldn't tell if those opening fire were officers or civilians.

It is still unclear exactly how many officers exchanged gunfire with the suspect, as authorities have given different versions.

“When officers arrived, they immediately came under gunfire and exchanged gunfire,” Blackwell said. In a press release Friday, the department also said: “Responding officers exchanged gunfire with this shooter. »

But Evans said only one officer exchanged gunfire with the suspect.

“A second officer, I should note, arrived shortly after Officer Mitchell was injured and exchanged gunfire with the subject at that time,” Evans said Thursday evening. “He was injured during this exchange of gunfire.”

CNN contacted Minneapolis police and the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension for more information.

In his final moments Thursday, Mitchell was trying to provide first aid to the injured people, authorities said.

One of the people he was trying to help turned out to be the shooter who would kill him, authorities said.

“Mitchell was trying to help the individual who shot him,” Evans said. “It happened very quickly…he ambushed her.”

Mitchell, who was engaged, is now remembered for his courage and love for his work.

Just three days after being sworn in to the police department in 2023, Mitchell rushed into a burning and smoke-filled home with another officer to save an elderly couple. The rookie Minneapolis police officer told CNN he didn't hesitate to go inside.

“We're not trained to deal with fires, but we are trained to put other people's lives before our own,” Mitchell told CNN last year. “So when we found out that someone might be in that house, we didn’t hesitate to go in.”

Mitchell “was a hero, a son, a father, a fiancé and an officer so deeply committed to protecting and serving,” Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said at a news conference Thursday evening.

“He was running towards danger while the rest of us were running in the other direction,” the mayor added.

Although he was a Minneapolis officer for less than two years, Mitchell had a profound impact on the department. “I've never met an officer who received an award on the third day on the job,” Blackwell said.

“We will honor his sacrifice. We will remember his name,” declared the mayor. “We will never forget what he did for the people of our city.”

While police said they believe they know who the suspect was, homicide detectives are trying to determine the motive because it remains unclear what prompted the shooting.

Medical examiners are gathering evidence and the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension is working with Minneapolis police to help determine the circumstances surrounding the shooting deaths. Authorities said Friday they were still working to establish a timeline for the incident that occurred.

Investigators are working to determine the exact circumstances of Mitchell's death, O'Hara said Friday.

The Hennepin County Medical Examiner will release the names of the deceased suspect and civilian, as well as the cause and manner of their deaths.

“More details will be released in the coming days and weeks,” police said in a statement Friday.

“We have crime scene investigators in different locations right now,” Evans said at a news conference Thursday evening. “And we have dozens of officers working to meet with witnesses, canvass the area and gather additional information.”