Minneapolis Police Officers Won’t Be Charged in Fatal Shooting

Minneapolis police officers will not face criminal charges in the fatal shooting of Thurman Blevins, an armed man who yelled “Please don’t shoot me” last month as he ran through an alley, prosecutors said Monday.

Body camera footage of the shooting, made public by the mayor of Minneapolis on Sunday night, showed a chaotic foot chase through a neighborhood that ended with Blevins fatally wounded. Before the gunshots, one officer repeatedly shouted expletives and told Blevins to drop his gun. Blevins yelled “leave me alone” as he ran away.

The videos and the decision not to charge the officers provided new details about a case that has renewed long-standing tensions in Minneapolis over how the police use force and treat black people. The officers in the case are white; Blevins, 31, was black.

But the video footage did little to change two competing narratives that have emerged since the death of Blevins on June 23. Some watched the images and saw officers following appropriate procedures as they confronted an armed person who refused to comply with their orders. Others said they saw officers overreacting to a scared man simply trying to get away.

Questions about police shootings and police conduct have repeatedly emerged in the Minneapolis region, where the deaths of Jamar Clark, Philando Castile and Justine Ruszczyk have also led to large protests in recent years.

“It is just outrageous that people would attempt to justify the shooting death of this man,” said Nekima Levy-Pounds, a civil rights lawyer and former mayoral candidate in Minneapolis who has often been a critic of the police. “The police should have found a way to de-escalate the situation.”

Lt. Bob Kroll, president of the union that represents rank-and-file Minneapolis officers, drew far different conclusions. He said the officers, Ryan Kelly and Justin Schmidt, should receive awards from the department for their handling of the situation.

“This was just nothing short of excellent police work,” Kroll said.

The body cameras showed the officers responding to a report of an intoxicated person wandering the streets and firing a handgun on the north side of Minneapolis. After several minutes, the officers spotted Blevins. One officer warned his partner that Blevins had a gun and began running after him. One of the officers threatened to shoot if Blevins did not drop the gun.

After running into an alley and exchanging words with the police, Blevins appeared to look over his shoulder toward the officers as he continued running away. Several gunshots were fired and Blevins fell to the ground. A gun was visible on the ground next to Blevins, who had been shot four times.

Mike Freeman, the Hennepin County prosecutor, said a spent cartridge casing from Blevins’ gun was found in the alley. Freeman said it appeared Blevins had fired a shot at the officers, but he could not say for sure.

Freeman abruptly ended a news conference Monday morning when protesters and members of Blevins’ family shouted over him. He later released a statement saying no charges would be filed against Kelly and Schmidt.

“When Mr. Blevins fled from the officers with a loaded handgun, refused to follow their commands for him to stop and show his hands and then took the gun out of his pocket and turned toward the officers, Mr. Blevins represented a danger to the lives of Officer Schmidt and Officer Kelly,” Freeman said in a statement.

Members of Blevins’ family disputed the prosecutor’s conclusions and said the case was yet another instance of officers using unnecessary force against a resident.

“The family is hurt. The family is devastated,” said Sydnee Brown, a cousin of Blevins. “We knew everything was going to play out exactly the way it played out.”

Protesters gathered last month in the area where Blevins had been shot and called for the immediate release of body camera footage in the case. Mayor Jacob Frey, a Democrat, released the footage Sunday night but declined to share his opinion about the officers’ actions.

“Regardless of how our own life experiences and backgrounds inform the conclusions we draw,” Frey said, “let us all recognize one conclusion: A life was lost and that in and of itself is a tragedy.”