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Minneapolis Police have released body camera footage of a traffic stop that ended with a man gunned down, the city’s first death since the murder of George Floyd in May.
The swift move was aimed at stemming public anger over the murder, which raised concern over further protests seven months after widespread unrest following Floyd’s death at the hands of police.
The shooting took place on the south side of town on Wednesday. Police said the man – identified by his father as Dolal Idd – was a suspect in a crime and witnesses said he fired first.
The city released a brief clip of an officer’s body camera in two versions, one of which slowed down for easier tracking. The video showed the man trying to get away from the police before his vehicle was surrounded, and then showed him looking through the driver’s window towards the officers. It was difficult to distinguish more details.
The driver’s window shatters, an officer is heard swearing and at least a dozen shots are fired.
Medaria Arradondo, the police chief, said a gun was found at the scene. A woman in the car was not injured; no officer was injured. At a press conference, Arradondo was asked if the officers used reasonable force, and he said they responded to a deadly threat.
“When officers are shot, they are trained to react,” Arradondo said. Later, when asked if it was clear to him that the man in the car had shot first, he said, “When I watched the video that everyone is watching, and certainly the slowed down version. in real time, it certainly seems that the individual inside the vehicle first fires his gun at the officers.
The state Bureau of Criminal Apprehension is investigating the incident.
Bayle Gelle, of Eden Prairie, told the Star Tribune on Thursday that the dead man was her son, Dolal Idd, 22. Gelle told the newspaper that the authorities had not given him more information about what had happened. He said several officers executed a search warrant at his home on Wednesday evening.
“The police are brutality,” he told the Star Tribune. “I want to get justice.”
Idd was Somali-American.
The shooting occurred less than a mile (1.6 km) from the corner where Floyd, a black man, died in May after a Minneapolis officer rested his knee on Floyd’s neck for minutes, even as Floyd pleaded he couldn’t breathe. Floyd’s death led to days of sometimes violent protests that spilled over into the United States and resonated around the world.
In Minneapolis, Floyd’s death also led to a push for sweeping change in the long-criticized police service.
Mayor Jacob Frey and Arradondo have proposed several policy changes since Floyd’s death, including revising policies on use of force and making officers accountable for their attempts to defuse situations. And earlier this month, city council approved the transfer of $ 8 million from the police department’s budget to violence prevention and other programs.
Frey said in a statement Wednesday evening that he was working with Arradondo to obtain information about the shooting and vowed to release it as quickly as possible in coordination with the state’s investigation.
“The events of the past year have marked some of our city’s darkest days,” said Frey. “We know that a life has been cut short and that trust between communities of color and law enforcement is fragile. … We must all be committed to knowing the facts, seeking justice and keeping the peace.
The four officers involved in Floyd’s death were fired and promptly charged. They are due to be tried in March.
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