Minneapolis police on Wednesday night fatally shot a man during a stop, the police murder in May since George Floyd’s death.
Police Chief Medaria Arradondo told a news conference that the man, who has not yet been identified and described as a criminal, shot first and that he intends to release the camera footage of the shooting.
“Initial witness statements indicate that the subject involved in this criminal stop first shot at the Minneapolis police officers, who then exchanged guns with the suspect,” Arradondo said.
“MPD officers were unharmed and an adult woman was a passenger in this vehicle, but also unharmed,” he added.
The man was pronounced dead at the scene.
No further details were provided about the incident, including the race of those involved. Arradondo said more information would be released later this week, including the identities of officers, but that the recordings would be released in the meantime Thursday to provide transparency about the shooting.
“I want the community to be able to see what has happened, and I think it’s part of us to move forward again and I want to make sure we get the facts out there,” he said.
The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension is currently investigating and gathering “critical evidence” at the scene, the principal said.
Protesters were later seen gathering near the scene of the shooting, throwing snowballs and singing at police officers in the area.
Crowd pushes #Minneapolis police sailing with snowballs away after the murder of a motorist near 36th and Cedar.
(@JohnScollins) pic.twitter.com/dRTFnMmxCf
– This is what is trending now (@TrendingThisIs) 31 December 2020
The protests follow the earlier year after Floyd was killed when an officer pinned him to his neck for almost nine minutes. Four officers involved in the murder were later fired and charged.
“As chief, I recognize the trauma our city has been in, and we want to do everything in our power to maintain peace,” Arradondo said. “Our city has gone through too much. We need to keep our officers safe, our community needs to stay safe, and I tell you, we need to preserve the crime scene.”
Mayor Jacob Frey
Jacob FreyMinneapolis promises to investigate police misconduct The Minneapolis City Council approves the police budget, staff levels unchanged, the governor of Minnesota signs a ban on stitching as part of the new police reform law MORE (D) acknowledged in a statement posted on Facebook the killings in the city over the past year and promised ‘complete transparency’.
‘We know that life has been cut short tonight and that trust between communities of color and law enforcement is fragile. Rebuilding trust will depend on complete transparency. “I am working closely with Chief Arradondo to gather all the facts regarding what happened tonight and will pass on the information to the community as soon as possible in collaboration with the state partners,” he said.
“We must all commit ourselves to obtaining the facts, pursuing justice and maintaining peace.”