BCA to take part in community meeting in wake of Minneapolis police shooting

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

A community meeting is planned for this week to discuss how the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension investigates police shootings.

The meeting comes in the wake of the fatal police shooting of Thurman Blevins in Minneapolis last month.

The BCA often investigates officer-involved shootings across the state, but has drawn criticism following Blevins' death by some who say they don't trust the agency to conduct the investigation. Some critics have called for an out-of-state, independent, third-party agency to investigate the shooting.

While the BCA cannot talk about an open investigation, a spokesperson for the agency confirmed on Saturday that superintendent Drew Evans is working with the Council for Minnesotans of African Heritage to set up a meeting to discuss the process the BCA uses for investigating police shootings.

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Thurman Moore, the father of Thurman Blevins, stopped by the protest.
Thurman Moore, the father of Thurman Blevins, stopped by with his brother Manuel Moore on the way to his daughter's funeral nearby on June 24, 2018. He thanked protesters for coming out and standing up for his son at a protest in front of the Minneapolis 4th Precinct in protest to the fatal shooting of Blevins by the Minneapolis police.
Christopher Juhn for MPR News

Justin Terrell, executive director of the Council for Minnesotans of African Heritage, told MPR News that details of the meeting will be released on Monday.

Meanwhile, funeral arrangements have been set for Blevins. The 31-year-old man, who was black, was shot and killed by Minneapolis police on June 23.

Services will be held next Saturday, July 14, at 11 a.m. at Faith Deliverance Holiness Church in Minneapolis.

Minneapolis police have said they got a 911 call on the night of the fatal shooting reporting a man was firing a gun into the air. Some witnesses have disputed police accounts.

A member of the BCA walks a woman across police lines.
A member of the BCA walks a woman across police lines near the corner of 48th Avenue North and Camden Avenue where Thurman Blevins was fatally shot by Minneapolis police on June 23, 2018.
Christopher Juhn for MPR News

Two Minneapolis police officers are on standard paid administrative leave while the BCA conducts its investigation.

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey has pledged to make the officers' body camera videos public when it will not interfere with the BCA's investigation.

On Saturday, two weeks after the shooting, the mayor's office said it is still unsure when body camera video footage of the incident will be released.

A spokesman for the mayor said he doesn't know how far along the BCA is in its investigation into the shooting. But he said the mayor will release the video once each witness is interviewed and after the Blevins family decides how they want to view the footage before anyone else.