A Minneapolis police officer lost his life in what appears to be an ambush during a response to a shooting last week.
On Thursday (May 30), Minneapolis Police Department responded to reports of a double shooting on the 2200 block of Blaisdell Avenue South. Officer Jamal Mitchell reportedly saw two men with injuries in the street, including 35-year-old Mustafa Ahmed Mohamed. The other person was an unidentified bystander suffering from a gunshot wound.
Mitchell approached Mohamed, who was sitting next to a parked vehicle. “Mitchell asked Mohamed if he was hurt and needed help,” the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension said in a statement.
“Without warning, Mohamed pulled out a handgun and shot Mitchell at close range. Mitchell fell to the ground, incapacitated,” the statement reads.
Officers received and exchanged gunfire as soon as they arrived, according to Assistant Chief Katie Blackwell during a news conference. Mitchell was transported to HCMC hospital but succumbed to his injuries. Another officer received non-life-threatening injuries during the shooting.
Though first aid was administered to Mohamed, he was ultimately pronounced dead on the scene.
Mitchell was honored with a procession Sunday, during which the 36-year-old’s coffin was draped in an American flag and taken from the medical examiner’s office to Estes Funeral Home.
“His name deserves to be honored and remembered forever,” Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey stated.
Mayor Frey added, “He was here to protect and serve, and what I can promise everybody, especially the family, is that Jamal Mitchell’s name will not just be remembered today, and for these next several months, [but that] that name will live on in Minneapolis forever as a courageous hero.”
On Sunday, the Minneapolis Police Department released a statement on X. “Earlier today the Minneapolis Police Department held a solemn and dignified procession to honor and transport Officer Jamal Mitchell to a funeral home in North Minneapolis,” they said.
“When the details of the memorial service are finalized we will share them with the public.” Mitchell was a Connecticut native and moved to Minnesota almost five years ago. He was a father to three children, ages 9, 7 and 5, whom he was raising with his girlfriend.