Members of law enforcement gathered outside Hennepin County Medical Center in Minneapolis on Thursday after the deadly shooting.
Aaron Lavinsky/Star Tribune via AP
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Aaron Lavinsky/Star Tribune via AP
MINNEAPOLIS – A Minneapolis police officer was killed Thursday when he responded to a shots fired call and was providing medical attention to a man who shot him in what authorities called an ambush , authorities said.
Minneapolis Assistant Police Chief Katie Blackwell said the suspected gunman and another person were also killed in the shooting, which seriously injured a third person in the south Minneapolis neighborhood.
A second officer and a firefighter were also injured, authorities said.
The dead officer was identified as Jamal Mitchell, an engaged father. Police officers stood in line outside Hennepin County Medical Center, where Mitchell was pronounced dead.
Members of law enforcement gather outside Hennepin County Medical Center in Minneapolis on Thursday.
Aaron Lavinsky/Star Tribune via AP
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Aaron Lavinsky/Star Tribune via AP
Mayor Jacob Frey said: “The city of Minneapolis has lost a hero in police officer Jamal Mitchell. This officer sacrificed himself to protect and save the lives of others. His life, service and name will forever be remembered in the world.” City of Minneapolis.”
Authorities said Mitchell was honored for his heroic actions last year, on his third day on the job. The Minneapolis Police Department posted on Facebook last year that Mitchell and another officer rescued an elderly couple from a house fire. The post said officers ran inside and got the couple out before the house was engulfed in flames and completely destroyed.
“Their quick actions … were truly heroic, as they prevented this fire from becoming even more tragic,” Chief Brian O’Hara said in the post.
The shooting came three months after two officers and a firefighter-paramedic in Burnsville, a Minneapolis suburb, were killed while responding to a domestic violence call. In that case, a man started shooting from a house while seven children were inside. A third officer was injured before the man died from gunshot wounds.
