(CNN) 鈥� A Minneapolis officer was killed by a gunman who ambushed the officer as he responded to the scene of another shooting, police said.
Officer Jamal Mitchell, 36, was one of two people killed Thursday in a pair of shootings that also left four people wounded, authorities said.
The gunman, who Minnesota authorities identified on Sunday as Mustafa Ahmed Mohamed, 35, was also killed.
Police initially responded to a call about two people shot at an apartment building in Minneapolis鈥� Whittier neighborhood around 5:15 p.m. Thursday. When officers arrived, someone shot at them immediately, and the officers returned fire, Assistant Police Chief Katie Blackwell said.
Mitchell and the suspect were killed and another officer was injured, Blackwell said. She said authorities later found three other civilians who had been shot, one of whom died at the scene.
and the other victim killed, identified as Osman Said Jimale, 32, both died of 鈥�,鈥� according to the Hennepin County Medical Examiner鈥檚 Office.
Among the four surviving injured, a Minneapolis police officer and a firefighter suffered non-life-threatening injuries, Blackwell said. They have since been treated and released.
The other two suffered life-threatening injuries, including a person who was shot in his vehicle and another who was found in an apartment, Minneapolis police said. They were still in the hospital as of Friday afternoon.
鈥楢 hero, a son, a father, a fianc茅鈥� was killed
Just three days after he was sworn in to the police department in 2023, Mitchell rushed into a burning, smoke-filled house with another officer to rescue an elderly couple. The rookie Minneapolis cop told CNN he didn鈥檛 hesitate to go in.
鈥淲e鈥檙e not trained to run into fires, but we are trained to put others鈥� lives in front of ours,鈥� Mitchell told CNN last year. 鈥淪o when we found out possibly that someone was in that house, we didn鈥檛 second guess running in.鈥�
In his final moments Thursday, the young officer responded to a shooting and tried to render first aid to those who had been injured, authorities said.
One of the people he was trying to help turned out to be the gunman who would kill him, authorities said.
鈥淢itchell was attempting to assist the individual that shot him,鈥� Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension Superintendent Drew Evans said.
鈥淚t happened very fast 鈥� he ambushed him.鈥�
Mitchell 鈥渨as a hero, a son, a father, a fianc茅 and an officer who is so deeply committed to protecting and serving,鈥� Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said.
鈥淗e would run towards danger when the rest of us would run in the other direction,鈥� the mayor added.
Even though he was a Minneapolis officer for less than two years, Mitchell made a profound impact on the department.
鈥淚鈥檝e never met an officer that received an award on the third day on the job,鈥� Blackwell said.
And the officer 鈥済ave the ultimate sacrifice to protect and save the lives of others,鈥� Frey said.
鈥淲e will honor his sacrifice. We will remember his name,鈥� the mayor said. 鈥淲e will never forget what he did for the people of our city.鈥�
Speaking early Friday morning, Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O鈥橦ara said, 鈥淭here are not words to appropriately describe this tragedy.聽It鈥檚 the worst call a police chief can receive.鈥�
O鈥橦ara says that he had known Mitchell personally. 鈥淗e died a hero,鈥� the chief said. 鈥淗e died doing what we asked him to do for the rest of us.鈥�
The motive remains a mystery
It鈥檚 still unclear what prompted the gunfire that led to a shootout and two victims killed.
Authorities say homicide detectives were trying to determine the motive.
Witness Reuben Molina was watching TV with his girlfriend in a third-floor apartment when he heard a 鈥渂ang.鈥�
鈥淭hen we heard it again and again and again in rapid succession, and then me and her were like, 鈥極h, that鈥檚 gunshots,鈥欌€� Molina told . He said he thought the sounds came from the floor below them.
Molina said they left the apartment to see what was happening. He told WCCO he kept hearing gunshots and saw 鈥減eople shooting,鈥� but couldn鈥檛 tell whether those opening fire were officers or civilians.
鈥淲hen officers arrived, they received gunfire immediately and they exchanged gunfire,鈥� Blackwell said.
Two officers 鈥� Nick Kapinos and Luke Kittock 鈥撀爓ho shot at the suspect are on critical incident leave, according to a Sunday news release from the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension.
Kapinos has 10 years of law enforcement experience and Kittock has nine. Kittock was injured during the exchange of gunfire but was later treated and released from the hospital, authorities said.
Forensic scientists are collecting evidence, and the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension is working with Minneapolis police to help determine the circumstances surrounding the shooting deaths. Authorities said Friday they are still working on gathering a timeline for the incident that unfolded.
鈥淭here is both body-worn and squad car camera video of this incident,鈥� the bureau said in the news release Sunday. 鈥淎gents are reviewing all available video as part of their active investigation.鈥�
CNN has reached out to the Minneapolis Police Department for more information.
鈥楾his cannot be the norm鈥�
Across the country, the US has suffered at least 180 mass shootings in just the first five months of this year, according to the聽. Like CNN, the archive defines a mass shooting as one in which four or more people are shot, not including the shooter.
And in the first four months of this year, at least in the line of duty 鈥� including 20 who were killed, according to the National Fraternal Order of Police.
鈥淭his cannot be the norm,鈥� Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz said Thursday night.
鈥淚t鈥檚 now happened four times in the last couple of months where we鈥檝e had public safety officers responding to the call that people make to 911, rushing into that situation, and in this case being ambushed and a loss of life for Officer Mitchell.鈥�
And even though Minneapolis is 鈥渟trong鈥� and 鈥渞esilient,鈥� the mayor said, 鈥淲e got to do everything possible to make sure that these tragic events, this epidemic of gun violence, this kind of stuff never happens again.鈥�
This is a developing story and will be updated.
The-CNN-Wire
鈩� & 漏 2024 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.
