Body camera footage released from fatal shooting of Tekle Sundberg
By: Body camera footage from four Minneapolis police officers was released Wednesday afternoon, detailing how the events unfolded during a standoff with Andrew "Tekle" Sundberg that resulted in his death.
Sundberg was fatally shot by two MPD officers following a six-hour standoff in a Seward neighborhood apartment building that began late on on Wednesday, July 13 and continued into the early morning hours of July 14. He was transported to HCMC for treatment, but didn't survive.
Minneapolis city officials later identified the two officers who fired the fatal shots as Aaron Pearson and Zachary Seraphine.
Before publicly releasing the footage Wednesday afternoon, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey and Interim Minneapolis Police Chief Amelia Huffman said Sundberg's death was "not the outcome anyone wanted."
MPD officer Kapinos was the first responding officer whose body camera footage was shown. The video shows Kapinos standing in the stairwell of the apartment building's third floor. As the standoff ensues, multiple gunshots are heard as Kapinos pounds on the hallway door and addresses Sundberg by name. Kapinos can be heard announcing himself as Minneapolis police, and instructing Sundberg to come out with his hands up.
Following those shots, a woman appeared. She and her two small children were then ushered to safety.
Police say it was around 10 p.m. when SWAT and crisis negotiation teams responded. At about 12:30 a.m., Sundberg's parents arrived at the scene.
The next video released shows footage from MPD Sgt. Kelly's body camera, where he was positioned in front of the apartment complex around 4:25 a.m. At least three officers can be seen with guns drawn, while Sundberg hangs out of his apartment window and appears to be talking to someone on the phone.
Police say it was during this interaction that Seraphine and Pearson positioned themselves on a rooftop across the street. The next video from Seraphine's body camera didn't offer visual guidance, but instead captured the officers' audio.
The last video shown came from MPD officer Calhoun, who was assigned to the perimeter of the building. His video was captured around the same time Seraphine's audio is depicted. In both videos, multiple shots can be heard.
A spokesperson for MPD said they have not yet been able to locate any video from the exact moment Sundberg was killed. They're asking anyone who may have information to come forward.
On Saturday, Sundberg's family and their attorneys held a press conference from the parking lot of the complex, demanding more information from police about what led up to the shooting.
Prominent civil rights attorneys Ben Crump and Jeff Storms are representing Sundberg's family. Storms said during the press conference that he was working with MPD and Crump to review body camera footage and expected it to be released sometime this week.
Prior to Sundberg's family speaking, a 24-year-old woman named Arabella Yarbrough interrupted the event, claiming to be the mother who called 911 during the incident because she said she felt threatened by Sundberg.
Transcripts from the 911 call unveiled that Yarborough did call police. She told dispatchers that she may have been grazed by a bullet.
Yarbrough said a shot went through her door and into her kitchen while she was cooking for her children.
"I don't know if I should shoot back. I [a] have license to carry," Yarbrough said in the call.
The transcripts detail that Yarbrough was able to escape from the apartment with her kids.
Mark Sundberg, Andrew's father, publicly apologized to Yarborough while also giving reasons to demand justice for his son.
"My heart goes out for that woman. She went through a very traumatic event with those bullets coming through her house. That'll affect her for the rest of her life, that'll affect her children for the rest of their life, and I'm so sorry it happened," said Mark Sundberg. "It is two different incidences. What we're here for is when Tekle was shot by the Minneapolis police and died."