Video obtained by CNN affiliate WCCO appears to show dozens of law enforcement officers rushing into the Minneapolis apartment building as the shooting unfolded. Footage later showed officers armed with long guns positioned outside the building while multiple people were taken away on stretchers. Police cruisers, armored vehicles and ambulances surrounded the area as emergency crews continued responding to the scene. “But for their heroic work, the death toll would have been far higher,” Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said at a news conference Wednesday night. “But for their heroic work, the death toll would have been far higher,” Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said at a news conference Wednesday night, CNN reported.
One person was pronounced dead at the scene and a second later died at a hospital, Minneapolis officials said. Three other civilians who were shot were taken to a hospital for treatment. The shooting occurred about five miles from Annunciation Catholic Church, where two children were killed and 27 other people were wounded in a mass shooting roughly a year earlier.
Investigation Details
Minneapolis Police Sgt. Garrett Parten said officers were first dispatched around 4:36 p.m. after receiving a report that one person had been shot. Additional calls soon followed reporting more gunfire. Officers rushed into the high-rise apartment building, where they found wounded victims in the lobby before moving toward the sound of gunfire on an upper floor. As they advanced, officers encountered what Parten described as “a haze that significantly limited their visibility.”
“We don’t know whether it was smoke or if there was some some other event that caused that haze in the in the upper level floor,” Peterson said. Later, city officials said some officers suffered “adverse effects” from the unknown substance, CNN reported. Gunfire could be heard over police radio transmissions and throughout the building as officers responded to the scene, Peterson said.
One officer was shot in the leg and suffered a non-life-threatening injury. A second officer was taken to surgery after being wounded. A third officer was also being evaluated for injuries that were not considered life-threatening. “As officers quickly moved from unit to unit to assist anyone who needed help, I can’t emphasize enough how dangerous this situation was and how heroic our officers were in response,” the mayor said.
Officers’ Recovery and Investigation
The three officers injured in the shooting are expected to make full recoveries, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz said Wednesday night. Their injuries were described as non-life-threatening. Peterson said authorities have not yet determined how the shooter died. A preliminary investigation suggests the shooter may have died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, according to a law enforcement source who spoke with CNN.
Earlier Wednesday, police had also been called to the same apartment complex to respond to a dispute that may have involved a person facing eviction, according to a law enforcement official briefed on the incident. Umecua Agnew, 48, said she was inside her building’s elevator when she heard gunfire coming from the lobby. She said a young girl in the elevator was about to step out when Agnew quickly pulled her back to safety. “I grabbed her back and I hit the button so the elevator could go up … so we wouldn’t get shot,” she told CNN.
