Minneapolis cops involved in fatal shooting identified

Police investigate the scene of an officer-involved shooting.
Police investigate the scene of an officer-involved shooting Saturday, June 23, 2018, in Minneapolis.
Aaron Lavinsky | Star Tribune via AP

State investigators have released the names of two Minneapolis officers who fired their weapons in the shooting of a black man who authorities say had a gun.

Thurman Blevins Jr. was fatally shot Saturday after a foot chase through a north Minneapolis alley. The officers involved were identified as Officer Ryan Kelly and Officer Justin Schmidt. Both officers are on standard administrative leave

The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension said Kelly has been with the Minneapolis police department since 2013 and Schmidt joined the department in 2014.

Authorities said Kelly and Schmidt were responding to reports of a man firing a gun outside. They arrived to find Blevins sitting on a curb. The head of the police union has said Blevins refused orders to drop the gun and pulled it out before he was shot.

Some community members have said Blevins was not armed.

Body camera footage of the shooting hasn't been released.

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