A Minneapolis police officer was “ambushed” and killed by a gunman he was trying to help, a suspect was fatally shot by police and a third person was found dead in an apartment as violence unfolded Thursday, officials said
Police responded to a report of a double shooting at an apartment on Blaisdell Avenue, and arriving officers “received gunfire immediately, and they exchanged gunfire,” police Assistant Chief Katie Blackwell said.
The suspect was wounded and died at the scene, police said. Officers found two men shot in an apartment, one of whom was dead and a second who was “gravely injured,” officials said.
Others were also wounded, including a bystander who was in critical condition, a second police officer who was shot and had non-life-threatening injuries, and a city firefighter who was also shot and whose injuries were also not life-threatening.
“Today is a devastating day in the city of Minneapolis,” Mayor Jacob Frey said at a news conference.
The officer who was killed, Jamal Mitchell, was a father who was engaged to be married, police said. He had been with the police department for about 1 1/2 years.
Mitchell was “ambushed” as he tried to provide medical assistance after arriving on the scene, Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension Superintendent Drew Evans said.
“What I can tell you is that Officer Mitchell was attempting to assist the individual that shot him — and that it happened very fast and that he ambushed him,” Evans said.
Evans said the investigation was preliminary, and that officials will provide more information later “and it will make a lot more sense in the coming days as to exactly what happened.”
The suspect who was killed was not identified. A motive and what led up to the shooting was not clear.
After Mitchell was shot, a second officer arrived and exchanged gunfire with the suspect, killing that suspect, officials said. That officer was also wounded in the gunfire.
Cory Jones told NBC affiliate KARE of Minneapolis that he was headed to a recovery meeting in the area when he “heard a bunch of shots.”
“I got behind a tree and then seen the cop on the ground, and then a guy laying out by the car,” Jones told the station. “And sat behind that tree until they got done shooting.”
The police officer was unconscious in the street, and another person was by a car, Jones, of South Minneapolis, said.
Around 6:45 p.m., the police department posted on X that two officers had been hurt and others were also injured in an active incident in the Whittier neighborhood.
Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minnesota, said on X that she was “devastated to learn about the MPD officer killed and another critically injured this evening as they were working to keep our community safe.”
She called it a tragedy and said she and her husband were praying for the families of the two officers and everyone else impacted by the violence.
Gov. Tim Walz said the Minnesota State Patrol was sent to assist police. The federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives said its agents were responding to “an active shooting scene.”
Walz said that press conferences about wounded officers, and funerals “cannot be the norm.”
“This is a really hard job. It’s a really hard job, and it’s really hard with lots of guns on the street,” Walz said, adding that police should be supported and have everything they need to protect their communities and themselves.
“Deepest condolences, and an absolute commitment that this cannot be the norm,” he said.
