Minneapolis PD release bodycam footage from shooting that killed armed man

MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - The Minneapolis Police Department on Friday released footage from the shooting that killed 39-year-old Michael Warren Ristow earlier in June. 

The Minneapolis police released multiple videos of the three officers involved in the incident, Officer Chaz Wilson, Officer Enoch Langford, and Officer Abdirizaq Mumin, as well as edited versions of Officer Langford and Officer Mumin’s bodycam footage. 

At the time of the footage, police were responding to reports of a person armed with a gun near the area of the 3000 block of 29th Avenue South and the 3400 block of Hiawatha Avenue South. 

The MPD on Friday also released bodycam footage from the May 30 mass shooting that killed Officer Jamal Mitchell. The BCA will release more information on the incidents in the future, Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O'Hara said on Friday. 

Bodycam videos of Ristow shooting

The footage began at approximately 9:29 p.m. on June 12 as police responded to the scene. Wilson’s bodycam shows him exiting the driver's seat and initiating a foot pursuit while armed with his firearm and yelling "Police, get on the ground… drop the gun."

As Wilson approaches a parked van, Ristow tells responding officers, "Get away from me." Wilson says to drop the gun, and Ristow responds, "Get away," before shots ring out. Wilson drops to the ground, and a fellow officer asks if he is OK. 

The second video is from Officer Langford’s bodycam, who exits the squad car and runs after the suspect, yelling, "Stop, you’re under arrest. Stop. Stop." 

As he approaches the suspect near a fence, he tells Ristow to drop the gun multiple times before firing several rounds at the suspect. 

Ristow could be heard saying "Ah it hurts" after shots were fired. 

Officers shout at Ristow not to reach for the gun, and Langford goes and removes the firearm, yelling over and over, "I got it!" Officer Mumin proceeds to place handcuffs on Ristow, according to his bodycam footage. 

An edited, slowed-down version of the bodycam footage highlights the suspect with what police said was a handgun. Police said the handgun had jammed. 

"All three officers fired, striking Ristow," the BCA previously said. Ristow died at the hospital. None of the officers were injured.

All three officers are on "critical incident leave," according to the BCA. The BCA did recover cartridge casings and two handguns that were determined to have been stolen.

"I think people need to understand, try to understand, from an officer’s perspective how you have to react, how you have to perform… particularly with an active shooter or anyone that's armed with a handgun that's threatening members of the public," said O'Hara. "The officers have to act as quickly as possible. At the same time, if you act too quickly and make decisions too quickly, you can make a mistake. That can be fatal even to yourself. So these are particularly challenging situations. And, and I just hope, I hope, you know, the public in general can appreciate that."