MINNEAPOLIS — Jamal Mitchell, the Minneapolis police officer killed in the line of duty late last month in a mass shooting, will be honored by thousands on Tuesday at a public memorial service.
Mitchell, 36, was fatally shot on May 30 in the city’s Whittier neighborhood while providing medical aid to his killer, 35-year-oldMustafa Mohamed, who had been shot by someone earlier. Mohamad was then killed by another officer.
Officer Jamal Mitchell Minneapolis Police Department Two others found suffering from gunshot wounds in a nearby apartment building also died. Another officer, a firefighter and a civilian were also hurt.
How to watchWhat: Memorial service for Officer Jamal MitchellDate: June 11, 2024Time: 11 a.m. CTWatch: On CBS News Minnesota on Pluto TV or on the CBS News app on your phone or connected TV.Memorial service detailsMitchell’s service will start at 11 a.m. at Maple Grove Senior High School and will feature a fly-over ceremony. Public seating will open at 9 a.m. and space is limited. Attendees are urged to park at the Maple Grove Parkway Station and then take a shuttle to the school. The station opens at 8 a.m.
Mitchell’s procession is scheduled to start at 2:10 p.m., beginning on Fernbrook Lane, then progressing to 93rd Avenue; Maple Grove Parkway; eastbound Interstate 94; eastbound Interstate 494; eastbound Highway 62; and finishing at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. People can pay their respects from streets running parallel to the highways as well as on overpasses.
MPD Community unites to make Mitchell’s memorial service specialMitchell, who had been with Minneapolis police for a year and a half, was a father who was set to marry his fiancée, according to Police Chief Brian O’Hara. TheMaple Grove residentalsocoached youth baseball.
He was honored last year forrescuing an older couple from a house fireduring his first week on duty.
Many people spent Monday prepping the high school’s gym for Tuesday’s service, including Cardell Floral in Crystal, which built a display of flower varieties across the stage for the service.
“We created a red, white, and blue [display]. It represents his service,” said Jill Lescarbeau, the owner of Cardell Floral.
Lescarbeau says while they never want to have to put together floral displays for tragedies of this nature, it is still an honor.
“It means a lot that they entrust us to do a beautiful job for them,” Lescarbeau said.
She hopes their flowers can play a small part in helping Mitchell’s loved ones find peace.
“When it’s so hard when you’re grieving, it’s the softness or maybe the bit of color or the fragrance that helps,” she said.
The day before the memorial service, two young girls who live in the 5th precinct where Mitchell worked came by the growing squad car memorial to pay their respects. They wrote him a note and placed it on his squad car with dozens of other messages, showing how much Mitchell meant to this community.
One note read, “This officer saved my dad from a robbery.”
Kristy Janigo, a Maple Grove resident like Mitchell, stopped by the squad memorial for the first time.
“It’s very overwhelming, especially the messages from the kids,” Janigo said. “I’ve always been kind of afraid of losing a member of our law enforcement agency, but to me, losing a neighbor is just as bad.”
A group of volunteers has been watching over the 5th precinct squad car memorial around the clock to make sure it stays intact and to water the flowers every day.
The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension says the man who killed Mitchell was barred from carrying a firearm due to a previous conviction, and he was the subject of an active arrest warrant for another firearms charge.
Mitchell was the third Minnesota police officer killed this year. Burnsville officers Paul Elmstrand and Matthew Ruge, and city firefighter Adam Finseth, werefatally shot during a standoff in February.