Minneapolis police are investigating what went wrong in Davis Moturi's shooting
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Minneapolis Police leaders are investigating why it took the department months to arrest a man that prosecutors say threatened his neighbor repeatedly before shooting him.
Why it matters: The non-fatal shooting of Davis Moturi last Wednesday highlights the dilemma police face as they navigate pressure to use less-violent tactics while maintaining public safety in communities where guns are still easy to find.
The big picture: Some critics also point to the incident's racial implications, questioning why the department didn't act more urgently to help a Black man, Moturi, after he reported escalating threats from his white neighbor, John Sawchak.
- MPD is already facing court oversight for a history of racial bias.
The latest: In a statement, Chief Brian O'Hara pledged a full "post-incident review," calling it "the least we can do in the ongoing effort to become the department that the community demands and deserves."
- O'Hara publicly apologized to Moturi — who is out of the hospital — telling reporters Sunday that police "did not act urgently enough."
Catch up quick: Since February, Moturi had called police dozens of times to report threatening behavior by Sawchak, who had a history of mental illness.
- The most recent call came 10 days before the shooting, when he pointed a gun at Moturi, prosecutors say.
- Hoping to avoid an armed confrontation, police responded as they had for months: with surveillance patrols of the block, hoping to catch Sawchak outside his home. He never emerged.
- When Moturi was shot, court documents say, Sawchak had three active arrest warrants against him — including for threats against Moturi.
Yes, but: On Friday, two days after the shooting, Sawchak was still free, prompting several city council members to publicly demand his arrest.
- Police had told Moturi and his wife to be patient. "Patience," Caroline Moturi responded, according to Fox 9, "is what has gotten my husband shot. We've been patient for over a year."
- On Monday morning, five days after the shooting, an MPD SWAT team apprehended Sawchak. O'Hara called the arrest "an example of what de-escalation looks like."
Friction point: "If we wound up in a deadly situation," O'Hara told reporters Friday about the previous calls, "the headlines would read 'MPD shoots a mentally ill person.'"
What they're saying: Mayor Jacob Frey backed O'Hara and accused city council critics of politicizing a complex case.
- "You can't have it both ways, both saying that officers need to be de-escalating tense situations and then simultaneously saying that officers need to bust through the door, guns blazing, with a SWAT team," Frey told Axios.
The other side: "Sad that it took council members writing letters & getting media attention to get the executive to act," Council Member Aurin Chowdhury responded in a social media post.
- She also wrote that council members' request did not call on police to "barge into homes."