Body camera video captures frantic moments, intense gunfire after fatal shooting of Minneapolis cop

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Body camera footage released Friday shows a chaotic encounter on a Minneapolis street last month, as officers ran toward a man who just shot one of their own, while bystanders took cover behind a car as gunfire rang out.

Edited video released by the Minneapolis Police Department shows the moments before Officer Jamal Mitchell was fatally shot on May 30, as well as the frantic minutes that followed as officers pleaded with bystanders to help find the shooter, amid the steady sound of gunshots and sirens.

The video shows Mitchell, who was responding to call of a double shooting, walking up to a man he believed was injured. He asks “Who shot you?” twice, and is seen putting on medical gloves. As Mitchell starts talking to a woman nearby, the man on the ground, later identified as 35-year-old Mustafa Mohamed, reveals a handgun — and the video abruptly ends.

Authorities say Mitchell walked into an ambush, and that Mohamed fatally shot him. They have not said whether Mohamed was actually injured or pretending to be hurt as Mitchell approached, but recently released transcripts of 911 calls suggest one caller might have hit Mohamed with a vehicle before Mitchell arrived. The caller reported seeing a man assaulting another man and trying to steal his electric scooter, when the caller rammed the attacker with a vehicle, possibly breaking his leg.

Police Chief Brian O'Hara declined to answer details about the shooting as he released body camera video on Friday, citing the ongoing investigation.

Mitchell's killing stunned a department that has struggled to fill its ranks since the murder of George Floyd and the ensuing turmoil.

The situation began with a report of a double shooting at an apartment complex. The footage released Friday, which was edited and partially redacted, shows Mitchell arriving to the scene and approaching Mohamed, who was lying on the ground, resting against a parked car.

“It looks we have at least two victims outside at the location bleeding,” Mitchell said on police radio before exiting his squad car and walking toward Mohamed.

The video ends before Mohamed fatally shoots Mitchell.

A second clip released Friday shows Officer Luke Kittock carrying a rifle as he sprints toward the shooting. Bystanders hid behind cars as Kittock asked for their help to locate the gunman.

“That guy, that guy!” one person shouted.

Kittock took cover behind a brick wall, as his partner carried a shield. After firing multiple shots, Kittock said Mohamed was down. He and officers then approached Mohamed, questioning whether Mohamed was the only shooter as they worked to handcuff him.

A third clip, from Officer Nicholas Kapinos' body camera, shows Kapinos arriving as shots are being fired. He holds a handgun and asks where the shots are coming from, then radios in, “Cop down. There is a cop down.” Kapinos and his partner run toward the gunfire as firefighters can be seen taking cover behind a fire engine.

The gunfire ended with four dead, including Mitchell and Mohamed. Osman Said Jimale, 32, and Mohamed Aden, 36, were shot inside the apartment building. Three others were injured including an officer, a bystander and a firefighter.

At a June 11 funeral service, Mitchell was memorialized as a hero who exemplified the type of public servant the city’s police force has been trying to recruit amid years of tumult.

FILE - Law enforcement gathers on Franklin Avenue in Minneapolis, May 30, 2024, following a fatal shooting. Body camera footage released Friday, June 21, shows Minneapolis Police Officer Jamal Mitchell’s final moments on May 30 as he walked into what investigators have called an ambush. (Ben Hovland/Minnesota Public Radio via AP, File)

FILE - Officer Jamal Mitchell, center, is presented with a Lifesaving Award by Chief Brian O'Hara, Oct. 4, 2023, during a ceremony in Minneapolis. Body camera footage released Friday, June 21, shows Mitchell’s final moments on May 30, 2024, as he walked into what investigators have called an ambush. (Renée Jones Schneider/Star Tribune via AP, File)

This frame from body-camera video released show Minneapolis Police Officer Jamal Mitchell approaching Mustafa Mohamed to render aid moments Mohamed produced a handgun and fatally shot him on May 30, 2024 in Minneapolis, Minn. (Minneapolis Police Department via AP)

Frames from body-camera video released show officers responding to a shooting in which Minneapolis Police Officer Jamal Mitchell was killed along with three others, including the gunman, May 30, 2024, in Minneapolis, Minn. (Minneapolis Police Department via AP)

This frame from body-camera video released show Minneapolis Police Officer Jamal Mitchell approaching Mustafa Mohamed to render aid moments Mohamed produced a handgun and fatally shot him on May 30th, 2024 in Minneapolis, Minn. (Minneapolis Police Department via AP)

Frames from body-camera video released show officers responding to a shooting in which Minneapolis Police Officer Jamal Mitchell was killed along with three others, including the gunman, May 30, 2024, in Minneapolis, Minn. (Minneapolis Police Department via AP)

BRATISLAVA, Slovakia (AP) — A train traveling from the Czech capital of Prague to the Hungarian capital of Budapest collided with a local bus in southern Slovakia on Thursday, leaving at least seven people dead and five injured, officials said.

Some 200 people were aboard the Eurocity train when the accident took place shortly after 5 p.m. (1500 GMT) near the town of Nove Zamky, police and the Slovak railway company ZSSK said.

The deaths and injuries were confirmed by Slovakia’s rescue service, and ZSSK said none of the deaths were aboard the train.

Video footage showed that the engine of the train was on fire, and railway officials said the bus was badly damaged in the crash and broken into two parts.

Interior Minister Matus Sutai Estok visited the scene of the accident. He said the dead were not immediately identified.

The major train track linking Slovakia's capital, Bratislava, with Budapest was to remain closed until at least 4 a.m. (0200 GMT). The stranded passengers aboard the stricken train were being transported by buses to the town of Sturovo on the Hungarian border, ZSSK said.

The bus driver survived the crash

The injured were transported to hospitals in nearby towns and cities because the local one was closed Thursday after some parts of it were flooded after a heavy rain overnight.

The driver of the engine, a Czech national, escaped with light burns, said the Czech Railways, its owner. The other four injured people were travelers aboard the bus.

It was not immediately clear what caused the crash, and authorities were investigating. The crossing is protected by gates.

Slovakia's President Peter Pellegrini, who was in Brussels to attend a summit of European Union leaders, offered his condolences to relatives of the dead.

“I wish the injured a speedy recovery and thank the doctors and rescue teams for their work done,” Pellegrini said. “I wish that such catastrophes would spare Slovakia in the future.”

Firefighters vehicles and emergency vehicles on the site of the collision of a bus with a train near the town of Nove Zamky, Slovakia, Thursday, June 27, 2024. Officials in Slovakia says that a train traveling from the Czech capital of Prague to the Hungarian capital of Budapest collided with a bus in southern Slovakia, leaving at least five people dead and five injured. Police and railway officials say that more than 100 people were aboard the Eurocity train when the accident took place shortly after 5 p.m. (1500 GMT) in the town of Nove Zamky. (Henrich Misovic/TASR via AP)