Man killed by Minneapolis police after overnight standoff
Police squads and a SWAT vehicle are parked on Franklin Avenue in Minneapolis, Minn. on July 14, 2022.
Ben Hovland | MPR News
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Minneapolis police fatally shot a man early this morning in the city’s Seward neighborhood at an apartment building near 21st and Franklin. That happened at the end of an hours-long standoff. MPR News reporter Mark Zdechlik has been covering the story — he tells host Cathy Wurzer what we know right now.
Use the audio player above to listen to the full conversation.
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Audio transcript
[MUSIC PLAYING] CATHY WURZER: And here's more on our top story at noon. Minneapolis police fatally shot a man early this morning in the city's Seward neighborhood at an apartment building near 21st and Franklin. That happened at the end of an hour's-long standoff. MPR News reporter Mark Zdechlik has been covering the story. He's on the line. Thanks for joining us, Mark.
MARK ZDECHLIK (PHONE): Absolutely, Cathy.
CATHY WURZER: What do we know about the circumstances of the shooting?
MARK ZDECHLIK (PHONE): Well, as is so often the case with police shootings, the first account we're hearing of what happened is from the police themselves. We don't have a lot of information. Police held a news conference this morning at the scene. They say officers were called to a report of shots fired at an apartment building just south of Interstate 94 and Riverside at about 9:30 last night. A woman with two young children reported gunshots coming from their apartment walls.
Police say they encountered gunfire as they evacuated people from the building, and said a man had isolated himself in a third floor apartment. Police spokesman Garrett Pardon said officers had been negotiating with the man. Here's a little tape from a news conference early this morning that was broadcast on KARE 11.
GARRET PARDON: These negotiation attempts included identifying and calling the man's phone, bringing his parents to the scene, providing communications from his parents in the form of phone calls, voicemails, and video messages, and officers also attempted numerous times, using loudspeakers, to instruct the male to exit the apartment with his hands up.
MARK ZDECHLIK (PHONE): But, Cathy, police say after about six hours, officers fatally shot the man, and that occurred at about 4:30 this morning.
CATHY WURZER: So that's what the police have said. We don't know why they shot the man. What are we still waiting to learn beyond that?
MARK ZDECHLIK (PHONE): Well, a lot. For one, the name of the man who died has not been officially released. Police did say they believe he was in his 20s. And another unanswered question is, what prompted officers to open fire after all those six hours of negotiations? Police haven't said what body camera footage might be available. They did not say-- or they did say no one else was injured. We're still working to find other accounts of what happened, talking to people in the neighborhood and people who lived in the building. So we're working on it.
CATHY WURZER: OK. You were at the scene this morning. For folks who are not familiar with the area, what can you tell us about it.
MARK ZDECHLIK (PHONE): Well, I mean, this is in the Seward area of Minneapolis off of Franklin Avenue. Lots of law enforcement there, Minneapolis Police Department, SWAT vehicles. The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension is on the scene. They're investigating the shooting. Streets near the apartment building are closed, and police are keeping people away from the site of the shooting. I talked with 26-year-old Abdi Abdi.
He was one of several people outside the police perimeter looking in. He said he was a high school classmate and friend of the man who died. And he said he had been concerned about his friend after recent conversations.
ABDI ABDI: Yes, recently, I've seen him a couple of times. And I could tell he wasn't there completely mentally. Mental health is a real thing. People take it as a joke, but it's really real. So never thought it would come to this, though.
MARK ZDECHLIK (PHONE): Abdi also said he was confused at why the standoff ended with his friend dead. We also talked to a woman who lives next door to the apartment building. Shatawna Williams said she heard a man shouting at police, that he didn't do anything, and that someone was lying about them. She too questioned why police would have had to fatally shoot the man after all those hours.
We're not sharing the name of the victim. As we said earlier, authorities have not formally released that information. We're waiting to hear more from them and also from family members.
CATHY WURZER: So a developing story. OK, Mark, thank you so much.
MARK ZDECHLIK (PHONE): You're welcome.
CATHY WURZER: That was MPR reporter Mark Zdechlik. Yes, we'll be following this story all day. More details to come later this afternoon on air and on our website, MPRNews.org.
MARK ZDECHLIK (PHONE): Absolutely, Cathy.
CATHY WURZER: What do we know about the circumstances of the shooting?
MARK ZDECHLIK (PHONE): Well, as is so often the case with police shootings, the first account we're hearing of what happened is from the police themselves. We don't have a lot of information. Police held a news conference this morning at the scene. They say officers were called to a report of shots fired at an apartment building just south of Interstate 94 and Riverside at about 9:30 last night. A woman with two young children reported gunshots coming from their apartment walls.
Police say they encountered gunfire as they evacuated people from the building, and said a man had isolated himself in a third floor apartment. Police spokesman Garrett Pardon said officers had been negotiating with the man. Here's a little tape from a news conference early this morning that was broadcast on KARE 11.
GARRET PARDON: These negotiation attempts included identifying and calling the man's phone, bringing his parents to the scene, providing communications from his parents in the form of phone calls, voicemails, and video messages, and officers also attempted numerous times, using loudspeakers, to instruct the male to exit the apartment with his hands up.
MARK ZDECHLIK (PHONE): But, Cathy, police say after about six hours, officers fatally shot the man, and that occurred at about 4:30 this morning.
CATHY WURZER: So that's what the police have said. We don't know why they shot the man. What are we still waiting to learn beyond that?
MARK ZDECHLIK (PHONE): Well, a lot. For one, the name of the man who died has not been officially released. Police did say they believe he was in his 20s. And another unanswered question is, what prompted officers to open fire after all those six hours of negotiations? Police haven't said what body camera footage might be available. They did not say-- or they did say no one else was injured. We're still working to find other accounts of what happened, talking to people in the neighborhood and people who lived in the building. So we're working on it.
CATHY WURZER: OK. You were at the scene this morning. For folks who are not familiar with the area, what can you tell us about it.
MARK ZDECHLIK (PHONE): Well, I mean, this is in the Seward area of Minneapolis off of Franklin Avenue. Lots of law enforcement there, Minneapolis Police Department, SWAT vehicles. The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension is on the scene. They're investigating the shooting. Streets near the apartment building are closed, and police are keeping people away from the site of the shooting. I talked with 26-year-old Abdi Abdi.
He was one of several people outside the police perimeter looking in. He said he was a high school classmate and friend of the man who died. And he said he had been concerned about his friend after recent conversations.
ABDI ABDI: Yes, recently, I've seen him a couple of times. And I could tell he wasn't there completely mentally. Mental health is a real thing. People take it as a joke, but it's really real. So never thought it would come to this, though.
MARK ZDECHLIK (PHONE): Abdi also said he was confused at why the standoff ended with his friend dead. We also talked to a woman who lives next door to the apartment building. Shatawna Williams said she heard a man shouting at police, that he didn't do anything, and that someone was lying about them. She too questioned why police would have had to fatally shoot the man after all those hours.
We're not sharing the name of the victim. As we said earlier, authorities have not formally released that information. We're waiting to hear more from them and also from family members.
CATHY WURZER: So a developing story. OK, Mark, thank you so much.
MARK ZDECHLIK (PHONE): You're welcome.
CATHY WURZER: That was MPR reporter Mark Zdechlik. Yes, we'll be following this story all day. More details to come later this afternoon on air and on our website, MPRNews.org.
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