Video: Suspect who shot Minneapolis police officer Mitchell continued shooting as police came to help

Police body camera videos released Friday showed the chaos that erupted at the scene in south Minneapolis on May 30 when officers responded to a 911 call and shots were fired that quickly escalated into an emergency in which Officer Jamal Mitchell was shot by a person he was trying to help.

Edited videos released Friday from the body-worn cameras of several police officers, including Mitchell’s, depict the horrific moments when police arrived and sprung into action to try to find the shooter or shooters when shots were fired.

Mitchell’s video shows him arriving and radioing dispatch, “It looks like we have at least two bleeding victims outside.” He gets out and yells, “Hey, who shot you? Are there any victims inside?” The video does not show him being shot at.

Mitchell arrived at the scene of the accident at about 5:18 p.m., but did not reach the apartment from which the 911 call came. He stopped about a block from the apartment and reported seeing the two injured men on the street.

He approached the first man, who was lying next to a car and was later identified as Mustafa Mohamed. The man shot Mitchell and began shooting while sitting on the ground, according to other witnesses who called 911.

“Officer Mitchell had no chance to draw his weapon,” Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara told reporters Friday when he released the video. In response to reporters’ questions, O’Hara later said Mitchell was “trying to help someone he thought had been shot. He was ambushed and murdered quite suddenly and without provocation.”

Mitchell died in the hospital, O’Hara said.

“Policeman downstairs, in the middle of the street”

Another video released Friday included body camera footage from police officers Luke Kittock and Nicholas Kapinos. In their videos, volleys of gunfire can be heard as they arrive at the scene near Blaisdell Avenue and 21st Street and people ask where the shooter is and also try to determine if there are multiple shooters.

“Multiple shots fired… officer down. There’s an officer down, in the middle of the street, in the middle of the street one block north,” Kapinos can be heard on the video amid gunfire and the dispatcher’s voice trying to update officers. He then runs to where officers shot Mohamed and handcuffed him.

Earlier this week, Minneapolis released transcripts of 911 calls that provided more details about what happened on May 30. O’Hara said Friday he complied with a request from the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension to delay the release of the video to avoid potentially interfering with the BCA’s investigation into Mitchell’s killing.

Three other men were killed by gunfire in the incident. A passing driver, a firefighter and a police officer were also injured in the shooting.

While police try to de-escalate situations, “unfortunately – and this is sometimes very tragic – police officers cannot handcuff every armed person who doesn’t want to go back to jail,” O’Hara said. “That’s just the reality of law enforcement in a society where there are so many illegal guns on the streets.”

More reports to follow. Stay tuned for more details.