(Alpha News) – The suspect in the mass shooting last week that left a Minneapolis police officer and a civilian dead and others injured had a history of violent crimes and was wanted on several warrants at the time of the shootings.
Mustafa Ahmed Mohamed, 35, was also prohibited from possessing firearms due to his history of convictions on violent crimes.
Minneapolis police Officer Jamal Mitchell was killed by Mohamed when Mitchell arrived in the area where a shooting had been reported on the 2200 block of Blaisdell Avenue South just after 5 p.m. last Thursday. Mitchell, who was driving solo in a squad and working a mandatory overtime shift at the time, exited his squad to assist seemingly injured parties that included Mohamed.
Mohamed then “ambushed” Mitchell in the street and shot him at close range, and continued shooting at Mitchell and arriving officers, according to preliminary informationrelayed by the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA). Mohamed was killed in an exchange of gunfire with two other arriving Minneapolis police officers.
One of the other officers sustained a non-life-threatening gunfire injury, a firefighter was shot in the foot, and a bystander was critically injured by gunfire, as was an occupant of an apartment at the original shooting scene where another occupant was declared deceased.
In a separate but potentially connected incident, the body of a man was found deceasedearly Friday morning on the downtown Minneapolis side of the Stone Arch Bridge from a reported gunshot wound. Sources have told Crime Watch that the death was a suicide of an ER nurse who had been on duty at Hennepin Healthcare at the time the mass shooting victims were brought to the hospital the evening prior.
Mohamed’s criminal history includes felony state convictions on first- and third-degree burglary, as well as a federal conviction on illegal possession of a firearm. At the time of the mass shooting, Mohamed was wanted on a warrant for illegal gun possession connected to a 2022 robbery case in downtown Minneapolis, as well as warrants on the two prior burglary convictions.
The investigation by the BCA is ongoing and more information is expected to be released at a future date.
If you or someone you know is struggling with thoughts of suicide, there is help available 24 hours a day. Call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 988.
