Why Minneapolis police were trying to arrest Dolal Idd

MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - A search warrant filed in the deadly Minneapolis police shooting of Dolal Idd provides more details about the weapons investigation that led to the gunfight between Idd and the MPD Community Response Team.

According to the search warrant application, "On the evening of December 30, 2020, the members of the Minneapolis First Precinct Community Response Team (CRT) were attempting to conduct a purchase of a handgun using a confidential informant (CI) from a person selling firearms illegally and prohibited from possessing firearms."

Investigators on the case learned the CRT used the informant to purchase a MAC-10 high capacity pistol from Idd, and the informant said Idd had more guns at his home.

According to the search warrant, Idd "arrived at the scene in a white Chevrolet Cobalt with a female passenger. When the team moved in to arrest the suspect, a gunfight ensued, and the suspect was killed at the scene. According to initial reports, the suspect fired at the offers. BCA crime scene personnel at the scene of the shooting observed black and silver handgun between suspect’s body and the center console of the vehicle."

The passenger of the car told BCA agents that she is Idd’s girlfriend and only knows him as "Bird." She said she has been to Idd’s home on Lee Drive in Eden Prairie and that they would enter through the back where Idd lives in the basement of the house.

In requesting a search of the Idd home, BCA investigator Brandon Johnson wrote that ATF records listed Idd as the possessor of a 12-gauge shotgun in a 2018 case, that he has a criminal history of weapons violations and that his weapons history and that of other residents of the home on Lee Drive lead him to believe weapons would likely be found in the house.

But, investigators took nothing from their search of Idd family home in Eden Prairie, according to the inventory receipt.

"None of the items set forth in the search warrant were found," Johnson wrote.

Judge Peter Cahill, the presiding judge in the death of George Floyd case, signed off on the search warrant.

Bodycam video showing shooting released

Police say officers initiated a traffic stop on a felony suspect near 36th Street and Cedar Avenue at 6:15 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 30 and gunfire was exchanged. Body cameras were activated during the incident and video released on Thursday showed the incident. In the video, it's difficult to make out exactly what happens.

The footage shows a man in a white sedan trying to pull away from officers as squads box him in at the gas station. At one point, as officers surround the vehicle, the driver's side window of the sedan shatters outward and smoke is seen. Minneapolis Police Chief Medaria Arradondo says it appears the man fired first at officers.

In response, officers opened fire, and about a dozen gunshots are heard in the video. Minneapolis police weren't able to say how many times the man may have fired at officers. The chief deferred to the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, which has taken over the investigation into the shooting.

Idd family upset with warrant execution at house

Idd's family has questioned the events that led up to the police shooting, saying the released body camera video was inconclusive and only raised more questions. Idd's father, Bayle Gelle, also questioned police conduct after the shooting, including the search of his family's home in the early morning hours of Thursday.

Speaking on Thursday, Gelle said armed law enforcement came to the home in the middle of the night -- while the family was unaware of what happened to their son.

"Our hands behind the back with ties, they were screaming, they had guns," he explained. "I have small children. They told us not to move on the bed. We got nightmare and shock."

In a statement on Friday, the sheriff says he has reviewed body camera video from the search. He believes his deputies acted properly and followed protocol for the search.That video was later released to the public.

"Based on the video I’ve reviewed, I am proud of the professionalism displayed by our Deputies during the execution of this search warrant," Sheriff Hutchinson wrote in a statement. "Law enforcement never knows for sure what it’s walking into in these high-risk situations. After reviewing the video, our staff acted appropriately and respectfully."

The sheriff confirms adults in the home were handcuffed with plastic handcuffs to the front of their bodies, which is the typical procedure for high-risk search warrants.

Idd’s criminal history

Idd’s criminal history shows a previous weapons conviction from 2018.

According to a criminal complaint, police responded to the family’s Eden Prairie home in 2018 on reports of a gunshot. When police arrived, Idd’s 16-year-old brother said he heard a gunshot and saw the defendant run out of the house through the sliding door.

When police arrested him the next morning, they found a handgun in his pocket that had been reported stolen out of North Dakota. According to court documents, his mother told officers Idd was "not allowed at the house because he scares the children."

Weekend march, rally

Hundreds of people took part in a rally and march in south Minneapolis on Sunday. The rally, organized in part by the family of Dolal Idd, started around 2 p.m. at the Holiday gas station at Cedar Avenue and East 36th Street, the location where Idd was shot on Wednesday.

Protesters blocked traffic on Cedar Avenue in south Minneapolis for several hours.

"We need justice…and we need equality," his father, Bayle Gelle, said.