“Ambush” police officer among three dead in Minneapolis shooting

A Minneapolis police officer was “ambushed” and killed by a gunman he tried to help, a suspect was shot and killed by police and a third person was found dead in an apartment as violence erupted Thursday, officials said.

Police responded to a report of a shooting involving two men at an apartment on Blaisdell Avenue. Arriving officers “were immediately met with fire and exchanged gunfire,” said Deputy Police Chief Katie Blackwell.

The suspect was injured and died at the scene, police said. Officers found two men shot in an apartment, one of whom was dead and the second “seriously injured,” officers said.

In addition, other people were injured, including a bystander who was in critical condition, a second police officer who was shot and whose injuries were not life-threatening, and a city firefighter who was also shot but whose injuries were also not life-threatening.

“Today is a devastating day for the city of Minneapolis,” Mayor Jacob Frey said at a press conference.

The officer killed, Jamal Mitchell, was an engaged father, police said. He had been with the police force for about 1 1/2 years.

Mitchell was “ambushed” as he attempted to render medical aid after arriving at the scene, said Drew Evans, superintendent of the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension.

“What I can tell you is that Officer Mitchell was trying to help the man who shot him – and that it happened very quickly and that he ambushed him,” Evans said.

Evans said the investigation was preliminary, adding that officials would provide more information later, “and in the next few days it will become clearer what exactly happened.”

The suspect who was killed was not identified. A motive and the background to the shooting were unclear.

After Mitchell was shot, a second officer arrived and exchanged gunfire with the suspect, killing him, officials said. That officer was also injured by the gunfire.

Cory Jones told NBC affiliate KARE in Minneapolis that he was on his way to a rescue meeting in the area when he “heard a series of gunshots.”

“I went behind a tree and saw the cop lying on the ground and then a guy lying next to the car,” Jones told the station. “And I stayed behind the tree until they were done shooting.”

The police officer was lying unconscious in the street and another person was next to a car, Jones said of South Minneapolis.

At around 6:45 p.m., police posted on X that two officers had been injured and others had been injured in an active incident in the Whittier neighborhood.

Senator Amy Klobuchar, Democrat from Minnesota, said on X that she was “devastated to learn of the death of the MPD officer and those seriously injured that evening while keeping 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 affected 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 dispatched to an “active shooter scene.”

Walz said press conferences about wounded police officers and funerals “cannot be the norm.”

“It’s a really hard job. It’s a really hard job, and it’s really hard when there are so many guns on the streets,” Walz said, adding that police should be supported and have everything they need to protect their communities and themselves.

“My deepest condolences and firm belief that this cannot be the norm,” he said.