Victim, officers involved in deadly Minneapolis police shooting identified
MINNEAPOLIS — Authorities have released the names of the man fatally shot on Wednesday night by Minneapolis police, as well as the officers involved.
The Hennepin County Medical Examiner's office identified the victim on Friday as 39-year-old Michael Warren Ristow of Bloomington. His cause of death was from multiple gunshot wounds.
Also on Friday, the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension identified the three responding officers who fired their service weapons in the deadly encounter, all of who are on "critical incident leave":
- Enoch Langford, four-year law enforcement veteran
- Abdirizaq Mumin, with nearly two years of law enforcement experience
- Chaz Wilson, five-year enforcement veteran
A fourth officer at the scene did not open fire, according to the BCA. All four were wearing active body cameras.
Police say they were alerted just after 9 p.m. on Wednesday to an armed man who appeared to be talking to himself near East Lake Street and 29th Avenue South.
About 16 minutes later, another call came in about someone with a handgun who appeared to be acting irrationally about a mile south on Hiawatha Avenue near East 34th Street.
Police Chief Brian O'Hara said officers found Ristow on Hiawatha and began running after him. He said there was a confrontation when the chase ended, with police telling him several times to drop the gun but he did not listen.
Officers ultimately shot Ristow, who was pronounced dead from his injuries at an area hospital just before 10 p.m.
The BCA says two stolen handguns were recovered at the scene, and O'Hara says one of the guns appeared to be jammed.
"From this and all the information I have available to me, I have no reason to think this is nothing other than a justifiable and lawful use of force by police officers," O'Hara said.
The BCA is leading the investigation, and Minneapolis police say body camera footage from the shooting will be released.
It's been two weeks since the last time Minneapolis police shot and killed a man. On May 30, officers fatally shot 35-year-old Mustafa Mohamed, who ambushed and killed officer Jamal Mitchell while Mitchell tried to give Mohamed medical aid. Mitchell was responding to a reported shooting at the time. Two other people died in that day's violence, and more were injured, including another police officer and a firefighter.
Mitchell was memorialized Tuesday and flown home to Connecticut Wednesday to be laid to rest. O'Hara was still wearing a black band of mourning around his badge at Thursday's scene.
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