MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – Minneapolis police said they would release a video with the body’s camera on Thursday of a traffic stop that ended with a man shot to death, the first police killing in the city since George Floyd died while being restrained by police in May.
Police said the man was suspected of a crime and died in an exchange of fire on Wednesday in the southern part of the city. Chief Medaria Arradondo said witnesses said the man fired first. He said the police bodies’ cameras were turned on and promised to release the video on Thursday, even as an investigation conducted by the state continues.
The shooting sparked anxiety about further protests, seven months after the unrest after Floyd’s death. The latest shooting took place about a kilometer from where Floyd died while being restrained by police.
“I want our communities to see this so that they can see for themselves,” he said. Until then, Arradondo said: “Please give me, (state) investigators, give us time, let’s get the evidence, get the facts, so that we can process this.”
Police spokesman John Elder said the incident took place at about 6:15 pm at a Holiday gas station while police were making a stop in traffic. The police did not provide details of the alleged crime or divulge any information about the man, including his race.
Elder said the medical team declared the man dead at the scene. A woman in the car came out unscathed, Elder said. He declined to say whether the police recovered a gun at the scene of the shooting.
The elder said that no officers were injured. He said he did not know how many police officers were at the scene carrying out the traffic stop or how many were involved in the shooting.
The state’s Criminal Seizure Department is conducting an investigation.
Dozens of people gathered at the scene in the hours after the shooting, including some who interrupted Elder and questioned him harshly while he did a briefing for the media.
Arradondo said the traffic stop was carried out by members of a police community response team – long-standing units that respond to situations such as drug investigations and firearm crimes. He said he had no further details as to why the man was wanted.
The shooting took place less than a mile (1.6 km) from the corner of the street 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 couldn’t 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 led to pressure for radical changes in the police department, long criticized by activists for what they call a brutal culture that resists change. An impulse by some members of the City Council to replace the department with a new public security unit failed this summer.
Mayor Jacob Frey and Arradondo, who were opposed to ending the department, offered several policy changes since Floyd’s death, including reviewing the policies on the use of force and requiring officers to report their attempts to slow escalating situations. Just this week, the chief and the mayor released a new plan to more quickly involve the prosecutor in investigations of police officers accused of misconduct.
Frey said in a statement on Wednesday that he was working with Arradondo to obtain information about the shooting and promised to get it out as soon as possible, in coordination with the state investigation.
“Last year’s events marked some of the darkest days in our city,” said Frey. “We know that a life has been interrupted and that trust between communities of color and police authorities is fragile. … We must all be committed to obtaining the facts, seeking justice and maintaining peace. “
All four policemen involved in Floyd’s death were fired and quickly charged with his death. They are scheduled for trial in March.