(CNN) — A gunman fatally ambushed a Minneapolis police officer who thought that person needed help as the officer responded Thursday to one in a pair of shootings that left two people plus the gunman dead and at least four others wounded, authorities say.
The incident happened in the city’s Whittier neighborhood, authorities said. Among four surviving injured, one is a Minneapolis police officer and one is a firefighter, both of whom suffered non-life-threatening injuries, Assistant Police Chief Katie Blackwell said. Two others, including one individual found in an apartment and another shot in his vehicle, had life-threatening injuries, Minneapolis Police said in a news release Thursday.
Police initially were called to the neighborhood on a report of two people shot at an apartment building at around 5:15 p.m. When officers arrived, someone shot at them immediately, and the officers returned fire, Blackwell said.
As a result of that shootout, one officer and the suspect was killed, and the other officer was injured, Blackwell said. The gunman died at the scene “despite lifesaving efforts,” according to Minneapolis Police. Authorities eventually found three other civilians who’d been shot, one of whom died at the scene, Blackwell said.
Police officer Jamal Mitchell, 28, was “ambushed” after “a very close encounter” with the suspect, according to authorities. Mitchell was shot a block and a half to two blocks away from the apartment as he attempted to render first aid to individuals who were injured, authorities said at a news conference Thursday night.
“Mitchell was attempting to assist the individual that shot him,” said Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension Superintendent Drew Evans. “And with that it happened very fast and that he ambushed him.”
Mitchell and another officer that was shot were taken to a local hospital, where Mitchell died. The second officer had non-life-threatening injuries.
Mitchell was recognized for heroism last year after rescuing a couple from a burning home and spoke to CNN about the rescue.
Details about what led to Thursday’s gunfire weren’t immediately available. Police said Thursday they believe they know who the suspect is, but homicide detectives are working to uncover a motive in the ongoing investigation.
Forensic scientists from the police department are collecting evidence, according to police. Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension investigators are also working with Minneapolis Police to determine the circumstances surrounding the shooting deaths. The Hennepin County Medical Examiner will release the names of the other victims, and the cause and nature of their deaths, according to police.
The incident is one of approximately 180 mass shootings in the US so far this year, according to the Gun Violence Archive. The archive, like CNN, defines a mass shooting as one in which four or more people are shot, not including the shooter.
“This cannot be the norm,” said Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz at the news conference Thursday night. “It’s now happened four times in the last couple of months where we’ve had public safety officers responding to the call that people make to 911, rushing into that situation, and in this case being ambushed and a loss of life for Officer Mitchell.”
Officer had been recognized for heroism
The City of Minneapolis lost a “hero” in Mitchell, Mayor Jacob Frey said Thursday evening. Mitchell had been with the department for less than two years. Last year, Mitchell was recognized for “a heroic act” in saving a number of people, including an elderly couple, Frey said.
Just three days after Mitchell was sworn in an as a police officer, he rushed into a burning Minneapolis home with another officer to rescue a couple in their 80s. Mitchell spoke with CNN after the 2023 rescue, saying he didn’t think twice about going into the smoke-filled house.
“We’re not trained to run into fires, but we are trained to put others’ lives in front of ours,” Mitchell told CNN at the time. “So, when we found out possibly that someone was in that house, we didn’t second guess running in.”
Blackwell on Thursday described Mitchell as courageous. “I’ve never met an officer that received an award on the third day on the job,” she said.
He was “so deeply committed to protecting and serving” and “gave the ultimate sacrifice to protect and save the lives of others,” Frey said.
“We will honor his sacrifice. We will remember his name. We will never forget what he did for the people of our city,” Frey said.
Witness describes hearing gunshots
A witness, Reuben Molina, told CNN affiliate WCCO he was watching television with his girlfriend in a third-floor apartment when he heard a “bang” followed by more bangs. “Then we heard it again and again and again in rapid succession, and then me and her were like, ‘Oh, that’s gunshots,’” Molina said, adding he believed the sounds came from inside the apartment building on the floor below them.
Molina said they left the unit to see what was going on and Molina saw two people exit from the back of the building, one who went north while the other went south.
At that point, Molina said, the couple went down to the second floor and that’s when they overheard a woman on the phone say two people had been shot.
When Molina left the building, he said he continued to hear gunshots and saw “people shooting.”
When asked if he saw officers firing their weapons, Molina said, “multiple individuals. I couldn’t say officers or otherwise.”
It remains unclear exactly how many officers exchanged fire with the suspect as authorities have given conflicting accounts. Blackwell said “when officers arrived they received gunfire immediately and they exchanged gunfire,” while Evans said only one officer exchanged gunfire with the suspect.
“A second officer I should note arrived shortly after officer Mitchell was injured and shot and exchanged gunfire with the subject at that time,” Evans said Thursday night. “He was injured in that gunfire exchange.”
CNN has reached out to the Minneapolis Police Department and the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension for more information.
“We are strong. We are resilient. We have been through hard times before and we find a way to rise above and we will do that again,” Frey said. “We got to do everything possible to make sure that these tragic events, this epidemic of gun violence, this kind of stuff never happens again.”
This is a developing story and will be updated.
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