Minneapolis police shot and killed a man who is said to have opened fire on police officers on Wednesday night during a traffic stop – the first police shooting in the city since George Floyd’s death on May 25.
At a news conference on Wednesday night, police chief Medaria Arradondo said police officers dealing with search warrants and drug investigations stopped the driver because they believed he had committed a crime, but Arradondo said he did not know details about what it was the supposed crime.
Police said the man fired first and that they will release footage of the body of the incident on Thursday. No police officers were reported injured. They did not reveal the race or identity of the man, who was pronounced dead at the scene, or of the officers involved in the shooting. A woman was also in the car with the man during the shooting, but she was not injured.
The Star Tribute reported that, according to the emergency dispatch audio, an officer communicated over the radio immediately after the shooting and said: “We have two people in the vehicle, a man is lying down, we still have a woman in the car with our hands. up”.
A crowd of protesters gathered on Wednesday night after the shooting. Police chief Arradondo urged protesters to remain peaceful, saying that Minneapolis police would respect their right to speak out when the Bureau of Criminal Dethension takes over the investigation, but that “we cannot allow destructive criminal behavior.”
“As a chief, I recognize the trauma that our city has been experiencing and we want to do everything in our power to keep the peace,” said Arradondo. “Our city has been through a lot. We need to keep our policemen safe, we need to keep our community safe, and I tell you, we need to preserve the crime scene.”
According to the Star Tribune, protesters built bonfires on the street to keep warm, threw snowballs at the police and the scene “sometimes got tense”, but most remained peaceful. Protesters dispersed around 1 am, when temperatures dropped below ten degrees.
After Floyd was killed in May, Black Lives Matter protests took place in cities and towns across the country. The protests in Minneapolis became specifically violent with the police firing tear gas and rubber bullets while some protesters protested and looted stores. A man was shot and killed outside a pawn shop.
“Last year’s events marked some of the darkest days in our city. We know that life has been interrupted and that trust between communities of color and law enforcement is fragile. Rebuilding that trust will depend on total transparency,” Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said in a statement: “We must all be committed to obtaining the facts, seeking justice and maintaining peace”.