Minneapolis shooting: Police investigate motive after gunman kills two people and injures four others

CNN
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Minneapolis police are searching for a motive and investigating two shootings Thursday night that left two people dead – including a police officer hailed as a hero – and four others injured.

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

Another officer was injured and authorities later found three more civilians shot, one of whom died at the scene.

“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 Minneapolis 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 hospitalized Friday afternoon.

In the first five months of this year alone, there were at least 180 mass shootings across the United States, according to the Gun Violence Archive. Like CNN, the archive defines 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, including 20 who 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 that two people had been shot in a residence in the Whittier neighborhood of Minneapolis around 5:15 p.m. Thursday. When officers arrived, someone immediately shot at them and officers returned fire, said Deputy Police Chief Katie Blackwell.

As Mitchell approached the scene of the double shooting, he spotted injured people nearby who needed medical attention, Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension Director Drew Evans said at a news conference Thursday night. While assisting the injured male 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 thought, ‘Oh, that’s 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 going on. He told WCCO he kept hearing gunshots and saw “people shooting,” but could not say if those who opened fire were police officers or civilians.

It is still unclear exactly how many police officers shot the suspect, as authorities’ reports vary.

“When officers arrived, they were immediately fired upon and an exchange of gunfire ensued,” Blackwell said. In a press release on Friday, the department also said: “Officers who responded to the incident fired shots at the shooter.”

However, Evans said only one police officer shot the suspect.

“A second officer, I should note, arrived shortly after Officer Mitchell was injured and fired and exchanged fire with the offender,” Evans said Thursday night. “He was injured in that exchange of fire.”

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

In his final moments on Thursday, Mitchell attempted to provide first aid to the injured, authorities said.

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

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

Mitchell, who was engaged, is remembered today for his courage and love of his profession.

Just three days after joining the police force in 2023, Mitchell rushed into a burning, smoke-filled house with another officer to rescue an elderly couple. The young Minneapolis cop told CNN he didn’t hesitate to go in.

“We’re not trained to run into fire, but we are trained to put other people’s lives before our own,” Mitchell told CNN last year. “So when we found out there was potentially someone in the house, we didn’t hesitate to run in.”

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

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

Although he served as a Minneapolis police officer for less than two years, Mitchell had a major impact on the department. “I’ve never met a police officer who received an award on the third day of his job,” Blackwell said.

“We will honor his sacrifice. We will remember his name,” said 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 is, homicide investigators are trying to determine the motive as it remains unclear what led to the shooting.

Forensic experts are gathering evidence and the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension is working with Minneapolis police to determine the circumstances of the fatal shooting. Authorities said Friday they are still trying to determine a timeline of the incident.

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

The Hennepin County Coroner will release the names of the deceased suspects and civilians, as well as the cause and manner of death.

“Further details will be released in the coming days and weeks,” police said in a press release on Friday.

“We currently have crime scene investigators at the various locations,” Evans said at a press conference Thursday evening. “And we have dozens of agents deployed to meet with witnesses, canvass the area and gather additional information.”