Things to know about the fatal shooting of a Minneapolis officer that police describe as an ‘ambush’

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Minnesota law enforcement on Saturday identified the man who they believe fatally shot a Minneapolis officer in what police are calling an ambush.

Minnesota Public Safety Department spokesperson Bonney Bowman named 35-year-old Mustafa Mohamed as the suspected shooter. He was later shot and killed by another responding officer.

Minneapolis officer Jamal Mitchell was responding to a call about a double shooting Thursday when he stopped to help Mohamed, whom he believed was injured, police have said.

Mohamed then shot Mitchell multiple times, killing him, police said. A local coroner identified Osman Said Jimale, 32, as the third man who died in the shooting. Four others were injured.

Aside from the identities of the slain men, few details have emerged since the shooting. Many questions remain, but here are some things to know.

WHAT HAPPENED?

Officers responded to a call of a double shooting at an apartment complex in the south Minneapolis neighborhood of Whittier.

As Mitchell was about two blocks from the complex, he noticed individuals who were injured. He got out of his car to provide aid to Mohamed, who then shot the officer, according to police.

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“I’ve seen the video, and he was ambushed,” Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension Superintendent Drew Evans said at a Thursday news conference. “I’m using the term for a reason.”

Another officer arrived and exchanged gunfire with Mohamed, who died despite life-saving efforts on the part of officers, Minneapolis Assistant Police Chief Katie Blackwell said.

That officer had non-life-threatening wounds. Another person, believed to be an innocent bystander, was shot and taken to a hospital in critical condition, Evans said.

When other officers went to the apartment, they found two people inside who had been shot. One was dead and the other was hospitalized in critical condition, Evans said.

WHO WAS KILLED?

Police so far have provided little information about the suspected shooter, Mohamed, and the other man who died, Jimale.

Mitchell was a father who was engaged to be married. He had been with the department for only about 18 months.

The Minneapolis Police Department posted on Facebook last year that Mitchell and another officer had rescued an elderly couple from a house fire.

On Feb. 7, 2023, Mitchell’s third day on the job, he and officer Zachery Randall responded to a call and found a house on fire, the post said. The officers ran inside and got the couple out before the home was fully engulfed in flames and destroyed.

“I told him, ‘You’re one of the good guys, Jamal,’” close friend Allison Seed told the Minnesota Star Tribune. “They really needed him.”

UNANSWERED QUESTIONS

Exactly what led up to the shooting and the shooter’s motivations are still unknown.

Evans said he believed the shooting was isolated to the two locations and that the people in the apartment “had some level of acquaintance with each other.”

The connection between the two shooting scenes wasn’t immediately clear. Police had said the public was not in any danger.

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey has said authorities are still investigating and asked people to “be patient with us as we do not know all of the facts yet. We want to make sure that the investigation is completed and we’re doing it the right way.”