Minneapolis police were involved in a fatal shooting. The chief said he will release bodycam footage Thursday
Minneapolis police said they would release body camera footage Thursday of a fatal shooting that happened during a traffic stop — the department’s first police-involved shooting since George Floyd died while being pinned down by officers in May.
The shooting Wednesday evening involved a man suspected in a felony who Minneapolis Police Chief Medaria Arradondo said was killed in an exchange of gunfire with officers.
“Initial witness statements indicate that the subject involved in this felony stop fired first at Minneapolis police officers,” Arradondo said.
The shooting happened about a mile from where Floyd died at the hands of Minneapolis police seven months ago. His death, which was captured on video, sparked national demonstrations calling for racial justice and police accountability.
After residents assembled near the scene of the shooting, city officials late Wednesday appealed for calm and vowed transparency in disclosing details of what happened.
Arradondo said he planned on releasing video from the officers’ body cameras on 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 chief said.
The unidentified felony subject was pronounced dead at the scene.
“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. 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.
Mayor vows ‘complete transparency’
The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension was investigating and gathering “critical evidence” from the scene, Arradondo 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.”
