Friends of Folwell neighborhood shooting victim troubled by incident

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. (KMSP) - The transcript of a 911 call from a police shooting in Minneapolis Friday was released Sunday night, and police say the man shot was suicidal and the victim's friends are troubled by the incident. 

On Sunday, Fox 9 spoke with the man's friends with whom he was living at the time in the Folwell neighborhood of Minneapolis. They still have questions about how their friend, Travis Jordan, died Friday night. 

“A life didn’t need to be lost that day,” said Paul Johnson, Jordan's friend. 

Johnson and his wife, Allison Reinke, stood just feet away from where their friend and roommate was killed Friday afternoon.

They told Fox 9 that Jordan, or TJ as he was known to friends, had been struggling recently with his mental health.

The couple was at work at the time of the shooting but got a message from TJ’s girlfriend that she had called police for a wellness check on him.

“He said that he was going to get a knife so she called the police back and warned them that he may have a knife. At that point I believe she called me to see if I could get home quickly,” said Johnson. “I was just a few minutes away when I hung up. I saw a message from my neighbor to get home quickly and I called him and he said the police had shot my roommate in the front yard.”

Paul and Allison say TJ had been living with them in the Folwell neighborhood for about six months. Paul and TJ became friends through the restaurant industry.

“He was a great friend,” Johnson said. “Just kind and loving and generous in everything that he did.”

“We’re sad. We’re very angry at the outcome,” Reinke added. “We’re heartbroken.”

The couple hopes Minneapolis Police are transparent with this latest officer-involved shooting and want to see the body camera video of how this encounter turned deadly.

“Something has to be done whether it’s better training, more pre-screening of officers… this is just too much of a crisis in Minneapolis, in all states where people are being gunned down,” said Johnson.