Night of unrest in Minneapolis after black murder suspect kills himself in the street

by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent

(Worthy News) – In an effort to prevent rioters from suspecting police involvement in another black man’s death, Minneapolis police released a video Wednesday night showing a black murder suspect shooting himself dead in the street, the Washington Examiner reports. Rioting reportedly began upon news of the suspect’s death, but continued even after the police video was published. Minneapolis mayor Jacob Frey placed the city under curfew for the night, and called the National Guard for assistance.

The man who committed suicide has not been identified; he was suspected of involvement in a fatal shooting earlier on Wednesday. Police had been searching for two suspects in this earlier shooting: the man who later took his own life and a woman. When police finally saw the male suspect, he went into a doorway and shot himself. The woman was later caught and detained.

According to reports, civil unrest began as the officer going after the male suspect had his gun drawn. Prior the release of the video, it was mistakenly thought the officer had shot the suspect.
“This video has been released to help quell rumors and hopefully thwart civil unrest,” Minneapolis police spokesman John Elder said in a statement about issuing the footage. “We are able to release the video in this instance because they are city cameras and our officers were not involved in any deadly use of force. Had that been the case, we would have turned all of this over to the [Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension].”

According to the Star Tribune, at least one activist tried to calm the situation down by shouting, “We have the video. The man killed himself.” Nevertheless, some rioters went on to loot and ransack a number of stores, including a Target.

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