Jamal Mitchell, MPD officer killed in shooting, to be memorialized at service in Maple Grove Tuesday
MINNEAPOLIS — Officials have released preliminary details about a public memorial service for a Minneapolis police officer killed in a shooting last week.
Details of the remembrance for officer Jamal Mitchell were announced Thursday. The service will be held at Maple Grove Senior High at 11 a.m. on Tuesday, according to the Minneapolis Police Department.
Further details about the service have not yet been released.
Mitchell was responding to a shots fired call in the Whittier neighborhood of Minneapolis Thursday when he was ambushed and shot. The officer was trying to help a man in the street, later identified as Mustafa Mohamed, when the man shot him "without warning," according to the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension.
Mitchell was taken to a hospital, where he later died. Other officers at the scene shot and killed Mohamed, who was ineligible to carry a firearm because of a previous conviction and had an active warrant out for his arrest on another firearms charge.
Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O'Hara said Mitchell, 36, was "a father, son, (fiancé), friend, and a member of MPD since 2022." Mitchell lived in Maple Grove, where he coached youth basketball. The Minneapolis Police Department recognized Mitchell in February 2023 for rescuing an elderly couple from a burning home.
Another officer, a Minneapolis firefighter and a civilian were also injured in Thursday's shootout, according to the BCA. Two people were found shot in a nearby apartment building, one of them fatally, a police report states.
Mitchell was the third Minnesota police officer killed this year. Burnsville officers Paul Elmstrand and Matthew Ruge, and city firefighter Adam Finseth, were fatally shot during a standoff in February.
Community steps up to support Mitchell's family, police
The flowers and notes just keep coming at a memorial for Mitchell. But so is a flood of orders 40 miles away at Granny and Grandpa's Custom Creations in buffalo.
"When I saw it on the news you just sit there and you wonder why? And then you wonder what can we do to help their family," owner Laurel Kenney said.
Kenney is printing shirts to raise money for Mitchell's family. Her nephew is a firefighter.
"They're here to protect us. It doesn't matter if it's in our city or outside of our community," she said.
The Buffalo community has been through tragedy before — a shooting at an Allina clinic in 2021.
"Learning of somebody passing in their line of duty always affects us. And I think maybe as a smaller town, we kind of know how that feels," Sue Olsheid with the Buffalo Area Chamber of Commerce and Tourism Bureau said.
On top of making the shirts, Kenney also made a custom "end of watch" seat covering, which she dropped off at the 5th Precinct.
"To help them heal, mourn, have that quiet moment for themselves," Kenney said.
Also at the 5th Precinct — and Hennepin Healthcare — are Soldier's 6's service dogs, reporting for duty.
"We've all gone through tragedy ourselves and having our dogs there, it helps ease the pain a little bit, it opens the door to conversation. It lets our officers and our nurses and our medical staff know that others are there for you," Soldier's 6 head trainer Mike Boehmer said. "We're always going to be there for them, not only today, through this week, but also in the time beyond."