Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara says killed cop was working overtime

Police officer Jamal Mitchell had volunteered to work overtime for the shift that ended in his death, Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara said Wednesday.

“He was working one of the critical shifts that had just begun that evening after he volunteered to work overtime on the day shift as well,” O’Hara said.

Critical staff shifts involve overtime during which officials earn double their normal wage.

The department has been working overtime to deal with an ongoing staffing shortage. Since George Floyd was killed by a Minneapolis police officer in 2020, the MPD has lost hundreds of officers. O’Hara said staffing levels are currently down 40 percent.

But he also said that this was not an issue the afternoon Mitchell was killed because additional police officers were deployed downtown.

“We happened to have dozens of extra officers on duty because there was a Timberwolves game going on, and some of them were among the first responders who came to help, so we were lucky there,” O’Hara said.

Mitchell was the first to arrive on the scene and was alone. O’Hara told MPR News he doesn’t think that played a role either.

“Even if another person, another police officer, had been in the car with him, there is no evidence that that would have prevented the ambush,” O’Hara said.

He said Mitchell’s killer was solely to blame.

“(Mitchell) simply got out of the car, put on medical gloves, approached one of the subjects to help, and was suddenly and brutally murdered. I don’t even know if he saw it coming,” O’Hara said. “There’s nothing anyone could have done to change that.”

Mitchell was shot and killed on May 30 after being called to south Minneapolis where a shooting involving two men had occurred at an apartment building. Police said Mitchell saw two injured men near the scene and tried to help them.

“He believed he was on scene with two shooting victims when he first received the call. But that was not the case,” O’Hara said.

Mitchell was shot by Mustafa Ahmed Mohamed, the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension report said. Other officers shot Mohamed, who was pronounced dead at the scene. Mitchell was taken to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

O’Hara said final plans for Mitchell’s funeral are still being worked out with the family.

Brian O’Hara spoke on All Things Considered on Wednesday. Listen to the full interview using the audio player above.