Police body camera video released Wednesday shows a chaotic scene in which Minneapolis officers rescued a mother and her two young children last week as Andrew Tekle Sundberg repeatedly fired a gun from inside his nearby apartment.
But the video does not clearly show the final moment, about six hours later, when two SWAT snipers fatally shot the 20-year-old amid failed negotiations for his surrender.
City officials released four videos totaling 15 minutes, showing the beginning and end of the overnight standoff outside an apartment building in south Minneapolis. The recordings, which confirm much of the police version of events over the past week, show officer Nicholas Kapinos arriving at Sundberg's apartment building about 11:30 p.m., shortly after neighbor Arabella Foss-Yarbrough called 911 to report that bullets had penetrated her apartment's kitchen wall.
In one video, Kapinos announces himself and knocks on a metal door to the apartment hallway. Gunshots can be heard, and the video shows bullets mushroom the door from the other side.
"Shots fired. Shots fired in the north stairwell," Kapinos shouts. "I'm not hit, but they're shooting through the door. Three [expletive] bullets."
Kapinos and other officers briefly retreat. Then Foss-Yarbrough appears frantically in the doorway.
"Hands!" the officers shout. "Show me your [expletive] hands!"
The officers usher her out with guns drawn. Holding the door open, they see where three bullets hit the interior side.
"My kids are right there!" Foss-Yarbrough shouts. Two toddlers emerge from behind an apartment door, one wearing only a diaper, and the officers help them down the stairwell.
"Mommy's here," Foss-Yarbrough tells them.
Another video, taken after 4 a.m., shows police outside trying to persuade Sundberg to exit the building. Sundberg leans out the third-story window and speaks incomprehensibly, appearing to ignore officers while talking on a cellphone.
"We don't want to hurt you," Sgt. Shawn Kelly shouts up to him. "We just want to go home. We want to make sure you get the help you need. C'mon out."
Two other videos show the perspective of SWAT snipers Aaron Pearson and Zachary Seraphine. Breaking glass can be heard off camera. "He's threatening to shoot the officers, and he's breaking out apartment windows," a voice says over the radio.
One of the snipers describes Sundberg holding a cell phone and then "waving something around in there."
"Gun," both snipers announce simultaneously. They fire twice.
Police rushed into the building and began to render medical aid about a minute later, according to an incident report. Sundberg died at HCMC.
Investigators from the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) recovered a firearm at the scene.
"This is not an outcome that anyone wanted," Mayor Jacob Frey said before releasing the video Wednesday at a news conference. "My deepest condolences go out to the family of Mr. Sundberg."
The 15 minutes of video represent only a fraction of the total body-camera footage from dozens of officers on the scene for six hours. But it marks the first objective view of critical moments of the standoff released to public so far.
As BCA agents investigate — standard protocol for all police shootings — the body-camera video and other records are classified as private data under Minnesota law.
Frey said the city released the video segment voluntarily and without narration "to be transparent, pure and simple."
Citing the BCA investigation, he declined to comment on why the snipers ultimately decided to use lethal force after the long standoff.
Interim Police Chief Amelia Huffman, who also offered her condolences to Sundberg's family, said she was relieved that officers helped Foss-Yarbrough and her kids escape serious injury.
"While we cannot comment on the ongoing investigation or the outcome, there were a lot of people who did great work in this incident," she said.
Huffman thanked the officers who "demonstrated bravery under fire."
When reporters asked who authorized the snipers to shoot, Huffman said department use-of-force policy does not require approval from top brass.
"Officers will respond to protect their lives or the lives of other people in the moment without preauthorization required," she said.
Police spokesman Howie Padilla said the department does not yet have access to all video evidence of the fatal encounter, and he again called on bystanders to give their recordings to the BCA.
"We have not identified the video that shows the clearest images of what happened at that time," Padilla said, adding that a spotlight used at the scene whitewashed some of the footage. "We want a full and thorough investigation just like everybody else."
Sundberg's parents said last week that they believed their son was suffering a mental health crisis, and the death brought protests from civil rights groups last weekend. Coming after the police killing of George Floyd, many expressed doubt over the official version of events, and some questioned why officers couldn't have taken Sundberg alive.
"Tekle's parents continue to send their deepest sympathies to all of those impacted by Tekle's mental health crisis," said Jeff Storms, one of the lawyers representing the Sundberg family.
"We all recognize what a harrowing experience this was for many. His parents join in the government's request for bystanders with video evidence to come forward and provide that video to the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension so that everyone can work towards bringing closure to this investigation."
