Thousands Honor Officer Jamal Mitchell: He Was ‘Epitome of Being Courageous’
For some at the June 11 memorial service for Minneapolis police officer Jamal Mitchell, it was difficult to articulate the shared feelings of grief.
“Words cannot express the emotions that I had when I found out that there was a fallen Minneapolis police officer,” said Luke Weatherspoon, a Minneapolis police officer and friend of Mitchell.
But at the service — which was hosted at Maple Grove High School and attended by thousands people — no one struggled to call Mitchell a model police officer.
“Jamal was the epitome of being courageous and compassionate in the profession,” said Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara. “Jamal Mitchell represented all that is good about the men and women of the Minneapolis Police Department and about police officers around this state and around this country.”
The 36-year-old Maple Grove resident was fatally shot on May 30 in Minneapolis. Investigators have described his shooting as an “ambush” that came as he responded to provide medical assistance after a double shooting.
According to the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, 35-year-old Minneapolis resident Mustafa Mohamed shot Mitchell.
Two other Minneapolis officers arrived on the scene and fatally shot Mohamed.
Police officers stand in the Maple Grove High School during Jamal Mitchell’s June 11 memorial service.
Friend and Father
Mitchell, whose casket was placed in a caisson wagon and escorted by a procession of police officers on horseback, left behind a fiancée and four children.
Weatherspoon described him as a doting father.
“Jamal lived for his family,” Weatherspoon said. “Jamal loved them unconditionally. [He] never missed an event for his kids to include plays, dance recitals, birthdays. He did all of this on top of working a good amount of overtime.”
Others called Mitchell a thoughtful and magnetic friend.
“How do you describe a man like Jamal without sounding insincere?” said friend and Maple Grove neighbor Chris Dunker. “I mean he was always happy, with that Colgate smile.”
More than anything else, Mitchell was described as a hero.
Weatherspoon called him “the hero that the city of Minneapolis needed.”
O’Hara, meanwhile, said that “Jamal was courageous to his very core, he was empathetic … he was heroic as a man until the very end.”
Crystal police Sergeant Jake Albers was among the officers attending the service.
He said it was important for him to show support for Mitchell’s family.
“It’s hard to see you know, fallen brothers like this,” Albers said. “It’s hard to see the family. It puts into perspective how important life is.”
Many other Crystal officers were answering 911 calls in Minneapolis during the service so officers could honor their fallen colleague.
