July 2024. Blues Vol 40 No.7

to the apartment. He

to the apartment. He stopped his squad car just over a block away, rushing to render aid to two wounded men in the street. The first man he approached ambushed and killed him, firing several shots at close range. Responding officers soon killed that suspect — later identified as 35-year-old Mustafa Ahmed Mohamed — during an exchange of gunfire. In the moments proceeding the officers’ arrival, Mohamed apparently attempted to steal a random man’s electric scooter. A passing Subaru driver reported intentionally ramming Mohamed, likely breaking his leg, before fleeing the scene. “I just hit a guy with my car that I saw assaulting and robbing a man, um on Nicollet and um he was, he tried to jump onto this guy’s scooter and I hit him with my car,” he told dispatch. “I believe he started shooting,” he continued. “I, I, I saw him reach into his pocket and then I heard pop and I urn, I, I drove away.” Multiple witnesses described seeing Mohamed, lying in the street, fire upon several passing motorists, including a man who had his 2-year-old son in the backseat. That driver, identified by the Star Tribune as Alexander G. Hage , 38, had pulled over to dial 911 after seeing Mohamed bleeding in the roadway and crying out for help, his family confirmed. That’s when he was suddenly struck. “I got shot. I need help,” Hage repeated to dispatchers twice, as gunfire continued to ring out in the background. He could not say where he’d been hit. The child 64 The Blues - July ‘24 was physically unharmed. A firefighter and a second police officer were also wounded during the back-to-back shootings that day. Minnesota law requires that police agencies release body camera footage within 14 days of a deadly encounter, unless doing so would interfere with an ongoing investigation. Chief Brian O’Hara issued a statement saying that he has agreed to temporarily withhold body camera footage from the incident at the request of the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) because “releasing it may interfere with its investigation.” He did not elaborate on why that might be, given that the suspect is deceased. “I pledge the MPD’s full cooperation with the BCA’s investigation, and I don’t anticipate a significant delay in the public release of the body-worn camera video,” he said. A BCA spokeswoman clarified Tuesday that the requested delay was in connection with the double homicide inside the apartment. ATLANTA POLICE RELEASE BWC FOOTAGE SHOWING AR- REST OF JUDGE ACCUSED OF ASSAULTING AN OFFICER By Joanna Putman Police1 ATLANTA — The Atlanta Police Department released body camera footage showing a county judge being taken into custody after allegedly assaulting an officer, 11 Alive reported. The incident happened on June 20 while an Atlanta police officer was working an approved extra job at a restaurant, the Atlanta Police Department said in a news release. According to police, the officer overheard commotion nearby and went to investigate. As the officer was helping security and attempted to de-escalate the situation, “an unidentified female, later identified as 38-year-old Christina Peterson, rushed toward the commotion and immediately started screaming at the security guard and the officer,” the department stated. “Peterson then forcibly pushed the officer in the chest and kept swiping his hands away as he attempted to assist the female

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