Tekle Sundberg's family calls for full release of bodycam video in MPD shooting

MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - It’s been about two months since 24-year-old Tekle Sundberg was killed by Minneapolis police.

The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension is still investigating the use of force by Minneapolis police that followed an overnight standoff at an apartment building that started with Sundberg apparently firing shots into a neighboring apartment.

Wednesday morning, community members and family shared new concerns about what happened that night. Sundberg’s parents are still grieving the loss of their son but also have concerns and questions about what happened.

On July 14, police received a call from a frantic woman who said her neighbor was shooting into her apartment. That was believed to be Tekle Sundberg his family says he was having a mental health crisis.

Police arrived and an hours-long standoff ensued with Sundberg hanging out the window. In police bodycam video, right before two snipers fired their rifles, each one says "gun," indicating they see a gun.

But in a video apparently shot by a witness on the scene, you hear that witness say he sees a knife. Now, the family is wondering if Sundberg was actually holding a gun when police fired. The questions come as the family is also sharing thoughts about the loss of their son.

"There’s so many things he will never get to do," said Tekle's mother Cindy Sundberg. "Tekle, I love you and I miss you and I’m just so sorry."

"I want to know what his last minute in detail was on video, in what they were talking about, one minute, give me one minute in detail," said father Mark Sundberg. "And I think we can figure this out."

The Sundbergs have only seen portions of video and are calling for all of it to be released. Other questions raised Wednesday include: Why the police wouldn’t let Sundberg’s father into the apartment to speak with him? Why police couldn’t use less lethal force? Why a mental health or behavioral crisis team wasn’t allowed to be part of the negotiations to get Sundberg to surrender?

To that, FOX 9 looked at the MPD policy and procedure and it clearly states that only the Minneapolis Emergency Communications Center dispatches the behavioral crisis team and that would not happen if firearms are involved. Instead, trained crisis intervention officers would be sent to the scene. We do not know if that happened.

FOX 9 did reach out to the BCA for a response to some of these questions, and they said they could not comment on an ongoing investigation.