Minneapolis Police Fatally Shoot Man Near Where George Floyd Was Killed

Minneapolis police killed a man on Wednesday night, in the department’s first police-involved shooting since George Floyd was killed during a police encounter in May.

Chief Medaria Arradondo claims that the victim was suspected of a crime, and was killed in an exchange of gunfire with officers. 

“MPD officers were unharmed and an adult female was a passenger in this subject vehicle was unharmed as well,” Arradondo said, according to CNN.

However, the victim’s family is now speaking out, saying that they don’t believe their son would have fired first, as officers claim. 

Arradondo is promising to release body camera footage of the incident, which he says will prove the officer’s claims. As of now, very few details have been released by police, and it is unclear why they interacted with the victim in the first place, or what crime he is accused of.

“I want the community to be able to see what occurred and I think that that is part of us again moving forward and wanting to make sure we get the facts out there,” the chief said.

The shooting happened just about a mile from where Floyd was killed.

In a statement posted on Facebook, Mayor Jacob Frey promised transparency.

“We know a life has been cut short tonight and that trust between communities of color and law enforcement is fragile. Rebuilding that trust will depend on complete transparency. I am working closely with Chief Arradondo to gather all the facts surrounding what happened tonight and will be relaying that information, in coordination with State partners, to community as quickly as possible. We must all be committed to getting the facts, pursuing justice, and keeping the peace,” the mayor said.

Immediately after the shooting, protesters began to assemble on the scene demanding answers and accountability. In response to the protests, Chief Arradondo said that the department will not tolerate “destructive criminal behavior.”

“We want to do everything we can to protect everyone’s First Amendment rights, to freely assemble, demonstrate, but, I say again, we cannot allow for destructive criminal behavior. Our city has gone through too much. I want to stress this again, for those who are out there, we respect you practicing your First Amendment rights, but we need to keep our officers safe, we need to keep the community members safe, and I tell you, we need to preserve that crime scene so that the facts can continue to come out as it relates to that,” Arradondo said.

Many local activists fear that instead of “preserving” the crime scene, the police could be covering up evidence of their own guilt or incompetence. 

Speaking to local reporters with FOX9, the victim’s father said that police were hostile with him and his family after the killing. He says that police came to his home and shouted at his family, then pushed them around after killing his son.