The rapidly evolving series of events created a confusing narrative that included a misstatement by police, who suggested at one point Thursday evening that four people were dead. It turned out to be three.
The violence played out like this, according to Evans, Blackwell and a police statement issued after midnight:
It started with a report of two men shot inside the apartment around 5:15 p.m. — the incident that Mitchell responded to.
Outside the apartment and down the street, Mitchell saw two people he believed were wounded in the shooting and began to provide medical assistance.
One of those people shot Mitchell — what Evans described as an "ambush," though the details remain murky.
At least one other Minneapolis police officer arriving at the scene exchanged gunfire with the shooter, and an officer was wounded with non-life-threatening injuries. The shooter was fatally wounded.
In addition, a civilian — whom Evans described as "an innocent bystander, we believe"— was wounded critically. A firefighter was also wounded with non life-threatening injuries.
Inside the apartment building, officers found two men who had been shot. One was dead and the other was "gravely" injured, Evans said.
As of late Thursday, three people were dead: Mitchell, the suspected shooter, and one of the people found in the apartment. Four people were wounded but alive: the second officer, the firefighter, the bystander, and the other person found inside the apartment.
