Minneapolis police were involved in a fatal shooting. The chief said he will release bodycam footage today
Minneapolis police were involved in a fatal shooting Wednesday evening, according to Chief Medaria Arradondo, who said officers were conducting a traffic stop involving a felony suspect.
“Initial witness statements indicate that the subject involved in this felony stop fired first at Minneapolis police officers who then exchanged gunfire with the suspect,” Arradondo said.
The subject of the stop was pronounced dead at the scene. This is the department’s first fatal officer-involved shooting since the death of George Floyd, according to a police spokesman.
“MPD officers were unharmed and an adult female was a passenger in this subject vehicle was unharmed as well,” Arradondo said.
Officials did not offer any details about the suspect in the Wednesday shooting. When asked about the race of those involved, police said more information will be released in the coming days, along with the identities of the officers.
The officers had body cameras that were activated, Arradondo said, adding he is planning on releasing that footage Thursday.
“I want the community to be able to see what occurred and I think that that is part of us again moving forward and wanting to make sure we get the facts out there.”
The scene of the shooting is about a mile from where Floyd died at the hands of Minneapolis police in late May. His death, which was captured on video, sparked national demonstrations calling for racial justice and police accountability.
Mayor vows ‘complete transparency’
The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension was investigating at the scene and gathering “critical evidence,” the chief said.
In a statement posted on Facebook, Mayor Jacob Frey said “we know a life has been cut short tonight and that trust between communities of color and law enforcement is fragile.”
“Rebuilding that trust will depend on complete transparency,” the mayor said. “I am working closely with Chief Arradondo to gather all the facts surrounding what happened tonight and will be relaying that information, in coordination with State partners, to community as quickly as possible. We must all be committed to getting the facts, pursuing justice, and keeping the peace.”
CNN has reached out to the city and the mayor’s office.
“I’ve been reaching out to community members, faith leaders and others,” Arradondo said.
Addressing people who were gathering at the shooting scene, the chief said, “We want to do everything we can to protect everyone’s First Amendment rights, to freely assemble, demonstrate, but, I say again, we cannot allow for destructive criminal behavior. Our city has gone through too much.”
If the demonstrations evolve to civil unrest, the chief said he “will make the decisions in terms of how we can try to peacefully resolve that.”
“But, I want to stress this again, for those who are out there, we respect you practicing your First Amendment rights, but we need to keep our officers safe, we need to keep the community members safe, and I tell you, we need to preserve that crime scene so that the facts can continue to come out as it relates to that.”
