MINNEAPOLIS — Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara has something he really wants people to know about officer Jamal Mitchell.

“Officer Mitchell chose us. Like me, he is from the east coast, he moved to Minnesota four years ago and he chose to become a Minneapolis police officer post-2020,” O’Hara said. “He chose to come here despite all of the challenges and all of the difficulties and the scrutiny that we faced. And it’s not just about the way he died, it is about how he lived his life as a man and as a member of this department.”

In their grief, Minneapolis police officers are continuing to respond to dangerous calls, including two homicides this weekend that had echoes of Mitchell’s fatal encounter.

“We all know but for the grace of God that could have been any of us that just got out of a car, seeing somebody down in need of help and walked up trying to help them. That’s what happened to Jamal. But despite that, our men and women are still going out to these scenes,” O’Hara said.

Year to date, shots fired in Minneapolis are down from 2,754 last year to 2,222 this year, but attacks on police officers in the region are up. In the last 14 months, at least 12 law enforcement officers in and around Minnesota have been killed or wounded by gunfire. The chief says the number of illegal guns is only part of the reason.

“Certainly in the aftermath of George Floyd, but I think it’s something that had been building up over a period of time,” O’Hara said. “People need to know words have meaning and a lot of violence against groups of people, whatever groups of people it is, by religion, by ethnicity or otherwise, starts with words, and we should condemn and not allow. It’s equally as ignorant as if it was against someone just because of their religion or their ethnicity.”

O’Hara said he could not discuss more specifics of what happened because it is all still under investigation by the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension.

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The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension released more details Sunday about the south Minneapolis shooting last week that left three people, including an officer, dead.

The BCA said Minneapolis police officer Jamal Mitchell was the first to arrive on scene after responding to a report of a double shooting near 22nd Street and Blaisdell Avenue.

Mitchell said over the radio that he saw two men with injuries in the street. The BCA said one of those men was the alleged shooter, 35-year-old Mustafa Ahmed Mohamed. The BCA said the other person was a bystander who had been shot and whose name has not been released.

The BCA said Mitchell got out of his car and approached Mohamed, who was sitting next to a parked vehicle.

“Mitchell asked Mohamed if he was hurt and needed help. Without warning, Mohamed pulled out a handgun and shot Mitchell at close range. Mitchell fell to the ground, incapacitated,” the release from the BCA said.

MPD officers Nick Kapinos and Luke Kittock arrived on scene and saw Mohamed shooting Mitchell, according to the BCA report. They returned fire, shooting Mohamed. He died at the scene. Officer Mitchell died at the hospital.

The BCA is investigating that shooting and a related shooting: a homicide in an apartment building about a block away from where Mitchell was shot. Osman Said Jimale, 32, was shot in an apartment at 2221 Blaisdell Ave. Mitchell was shot outside of 2109 Blaisdell Ave.

The agency is reviewing body cam footage as well as squad car video as part of the investigation. It will present its findings without charging recommendations to the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office.

The BCA said the bystander who was shot remains hospitalized in critical but stable condition. A Minneapolis firefighter was also treated for injuries