Officer Jamal Mitchell, 36, was fatally shot Thursday while rendering aid to people wounded at the scene, according to Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension Superintendent Drew Evans.
The officer was shot by the man he was trying to help, officials say.
"As he was attempting to provide medical assistance, he was ambushed," Evans said. "Officer Mitchell was attempting to assist the individual who shot him. It happened very fast..."
Evans said a second officer arrived shortly after Mitchell was shot and exchanged gunfire with the suspect, who ultimately was pronounced dead at the scene, Fox News reports.
Evans added that two other people were shot during the chaos – an innocent bystander who is now in critical condition, and a firefighter.
When investigators arrived at the apartment that sparked the initial call for response, about two blocks away from where Mitchell was targeted, they found a deceased person and another individual suffering from gunshot wounds.
“Officer Jamal Mitchell, a hero, took his oath to the people of Minneapolis seriously—so seriously he sacrificed his life. When others run away from danger, police officers run towards it. Jamal literally went into a burning building on his third day as a police officer to save an elderly couple. That’s the kind of man he was,” Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara said on Facebook.
Officer Mitchell is survived by his fiancée and son.