Slain Minneapolis Officer Jamal Mitchell was riding alone on mandatory overtime shift at time of shooting
New details have been revealed regarding Minneapolis Police Officer Jamal Mitchell’s response to an active shooter scene last week that ended with him losing his life.
Sources told 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS Minneapolis Police Officer Jamal Mitchell was working a shift he normally doesn’t cover and was riding alone in his squad car without a partner the evening he was gunned down on Blaisdell Avenue South.
Mitchell worked a mandatory overtime shift that day and because there is a shortage of officers, he was in a squad without a partner.
Minneapolis City Council member LaTrisha Vetaw told KSTP that if staffing levels were higher, there is a chance Officer Mitchell would not have been killed.
“That’s a hard hit. Mandatory overtime, low staffing levels and then we have this tragic thing happen,” said Vetaw. “The Council has to work more now than ever to get those numbers up.”
Retired MPD Deputy Chief Greg Hestness told KSTP the fact Mitchell was riding alone speaks directly to low staffing problems and is less than ideal especially when an officer responds to an active shooting.
“Not as safe, of course, despite thoughts to the contrary and I don’t think it’s as uncommon as it once was,” said Hestness. “It doesn’t even have to be something as horrible as this. I just think the burnout rate has got to be incredible.”
City records showed overtime for MPD in 2023 reached an all-time high of $21 million.
RELATED: Man accused of fatally shooting MPD Officer Jamal Mitchell had been on the run for two years