Investigation into Minneapolis neighbor shooting demanded by community

MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - Minneapolis city council members and community groups are calling for an investigation into the police response of John Sawchak shooting his neighbor Davis Moturi – an act that Moturi says could have been avoided if police had addressed his concerns earlier.

Audit, investigation incoming

Minneapolis City Council is calling for an independent investigation of how the police response to the Davis Moturi shooting was handled.

The months-long dispute between neighbors ended with Moturi being shot and his neighbor John Sawchak facing attempted murder charges.

A lot of questions have been raised in this case that has caused a lot of community uproar about why it took police days to take the alleged shooter, Sawchak, into custody. Also, why more had not been done before it escalated to this when alarms were raised by Moturi about this problematic neighbor multiple times.

"There was a major systemic failure here in the delivery of services from the Minneapolis Police Department," said Aurin Chowdhury, a Minneapolis City Council Member.

The city council discussed how the city and police failed to protect 34-year-old Moturi.

This comes after Moturi was shot in front of his home on Grand Avenue in south Minneapolis last week.

Moturi had made more than a dozen harassment reports against his neighbor, 54-year-old Sawchak, leading up to the shooting.

"It is heartbreaking to see in this case that MPD failed to protect another black resident," said Robin Wonsley, Minneapolis City Council Member, and lead author of the motion.

The council unanimously passed a motion on Thursday requesting the City Auditor conduct an independent after-action review of all incidents and cases between Sawchak and Moturi.

Earlier this week, Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’ Hara said the department "failed the victim."

"The city will undergo a thorough review of this incident and the events that have led up to last weekend and all the way through up to today and beyond. The Chief supports this review and is in total agreement and believes it is necessary," said Todd Barnette, the City’s Community Safety Commissioner.

Barnette also addressed calls for the chief to step down.

"I am not going to fire Chief O’Hara. Chief O’Hara has done a lot for the department and reform," said Barnette.

Moturi has since been released from the hospital and is on a long road to recovery from broken ribs, a fractured spine, and a concussion.

Sawchak remains behind bars on a $1 million bail.

City leaders said understanding the failures that led up to this shooting is critical to prevent it from happening in the future.

"I know residents want to know if they do ever find themselves in a nightmare situation where their safety or their lives are at risk and they call 911, that the city will send the right person for the job to protect them in the way that is safe, respectful, and effective," said Wonsley.

The independent after-action review has been requested to be completed by next summer.

Sawchak arrest

Law enforcement surrounded Sawchak’s home on Grand Avenue South near 35th Street, beginning around 10 p.m. on Oct. 27. 

For more than three hours, authorities tried to negotiate with him, using a SWAT team, crisis negotiators, a psychiatrist and members of Sawchak’s family.

O’Hara said that the SWAT team was being extra cautious because, in addition to a cache of weapons, they believed Sawchak also had knowledge of improvised explosives. 

Around 1:30 a.m., the following day, Sawchak was taken into custody. 

Following a court appearance on Oct. 29, he is being held on $1 million bail.

He now faces second-degree attempted murder, assault, and harassment charges.

MPD 'failed’

Following the arrest of Sawchak, Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara admitted that the police department had ‘failed’ Moturi in the events leading up to his shooting.

"In this particular instance, we failed this victim 100%, because that should not have happened to him," said O’Hara said at a press conference. "The Minneapolis Police somehow did not act urgently enough to prevent that individual from being shot."

Sawchak had been previously civilly committed, and court documents show he has an extreme risk protection order.

Documents dating back to 2016 also say that he had threatened to kill a previous neighbor multiple times, made threats to shoot his sister, and slashed an off-duty police officer's tire.

O’Hara also said the police department initially stopped short of an arrest due to the risk of potential escalation or standoff.

Activist outcry

Community activist groups say that police are responsible for what ultimately happened to Moturi by not taking his previous complaints seriously, and acting swiftly.

"The city council helped to create this monster by signing a contract with the MPD then gave them a 21.7% raise, all with no accountability measures." said Michelle Gross, president of Communities United Against Police Brutality in a press release.

In addition to the council-requested audit, the group is calling for:

• An independent third-party investigation into the MPD handling of the Moturi matter by a team selected by the community.
• Police Chief O’Hara be fired.
• The city immediately provide funds to pay for Davis’ medical bills and other expenses to allow the Moturi family to heal from the harms caused by the negligence of the MPD.

In a statement following the vote, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey wrote he fully supports an independent review of the incident, saying, "The mayor and City are committed to always doing better, and this means closely examining past actions and finding where there may be ways to improve and grow."

He also noted that O’Hara would continue to be the police chief of Minneapolis.