MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – Minneapolis police say they will release a video camera video of a traffic stop on Thursday that ended with a man shot dead, the first death in the city involved in police since George Floyd died while officers were detained in May.
Police said the man was suspected of a crime and died Wednesday in an exchange of gunfire on the south side of the city. Chief Medaria Arradondo said witnesses said the man fired first. He said the cameras of the officers’ bodies were turned on and promised to release the video on Thursday, even as state-led investigation progresses.
The shooting sparked anxiety over renewed protests, seven months after the riots following Floyd’s death. The last shot happened about a mile from where Floyd died while officers stopped him.
“I want our communities to see it so they can see for themselves,” he said. Until then, Arradondo said, “Allow me, the (state) investigators, to grant us the time, to get evidence, to get the facts, so that we can process it.”
Police spokesman John Elder said the incident happened around 6:15 p.m. at a Holiday gas station while officers were making a traffic stop. Police did not provide details of the alleged crime or divulge any information about the man, including his race.
Elder said medical staff pronounced the man dead at the scene. A woman in the car was not injured, Elder said. He did not say whether police recovered a weapon at the scene of the shooting.
Elder said there were no injured officers. He said he did not know how many officers were at the scene of the traffic stop or how many were involved in the shooting.
The state criminal detention office is handling an investigation.
Dozens of people gathered at the site in the hours after the shooting, including some who interrupted Elder and abruptly interrogated him while doing a media briefing.
Arradondo said the traffic stop was carried out by members of a police community response team, longtime units that respond to situations such as drug investigations and gun crimes. He said he had no further details on why the man was sought.
The shooting occurred less than a mile (1.6 miles) from the corner where Floyd, a black man, died in May after a Minneapolis officer pressed his knee to Floyd’s neck for minutes., even when Floyd claimed he could not breathe. Floyd’s death sparked days of sometimes violent protests that spread across the country and resonated around the world.
In Minneapolis, Floyd’s death also sparked a push for radical change in the police department, long criticized by activists for what they called a brutal culture that resisted change. The push by some City Council members to replace the department with a new public safety unit failed this summer.
Mayor Jacob Frey and Arradondo, who were opposed to ending the department, have offered several policy changes since Floyd’s death, including reviewing the policies for the use of force and forcing officers to report their attempts to warm up situations. Just this week, the chief and mayor unveiled a new plan to more quickly involve the city’s attorney’s office in investigations of agents accused of misconduct.
Frey said in a statement Wednesday afternoon that he was working with Arradondo to obtain information about the shooting and pledged to remove it as soon as possible in coordination with the state investigation.
“The events of this past year have marked some of the darkest days in our city,” Frey said. “We know that life has been reduced and that trust between communities of color and law enforcement is fragile. … We must all be committed to achieving the facts, to pursuing justice and to maintaining peace. “.
The four agents involved in Floyd’s death were fired and were quickly charged with his death. He is scheduled to stand trial in March.