Minneapolis police chief scrutinized over failures in Moturi, Lussier cases
MPD Chief addresses 'gaps identified in service'
Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O'Hara responded to an audit that determined the department made mistakes in at least two high-profiles cases, saying the recommendations in the report have either been implemented already or are in the process of being applied. FOX 9's Mike Manzoni has the full report.
MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - A new auditor's report showed failures on the part of the Minneapolis Police Department when it came to the handling of two cases from 2024, the shooting of Davis Moturi by his neighbor and the death of Allison Lussier, including misleading statements made by the city's police chief himself.
The shooting of Davis Moturi
Auditor releases reports on Moturi, Lussier cases
The Minneapolis city auditor released reports on the shooting cases of Davis Moturi and Allison Lussier. FOX 9 had team coverage with Karen Scullin and Rob Olson.
The backstory:
Moturi was shot by his neighbor John Sawchuk in October 2024 as he was cutting up a tree in his front yard with a chainsaw. The shooting came after Moturi had filed complaints against Sawchuk over the course of months for threatening behavior.
After the shooting, Sawchuk was charged with attempted murder. Sawchuk has since twice been deemed incompetent to stand trial in the case.
After Sawchuk's arrest, Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O'Hara admitted that the department had failed Moturi.
New report sheds light on controversial MPD cases
A newly-released audit details the Minneapolis Police Department's response to the shooting of Davis Moturi and the death of Allison Lussier. FOX 9's Karen Scullin and Rob Olson have the details.
What the auditor found
What to know:
The auditor's report found several failures on the part of the police department to prevent the shooting of Moturi, which include the following:
Officers misunderstood the law
The auditor found that officers seemed to have legal misunderstandings about their ability to enter Sawchuk's home, while other officers argued "the risk to officer safety was too great" to justify risking entering Sawchuk's home for a misdemeanor offense.
Staffing challenges
The auditor stated staffing level challenges contributed to some failures in the case. The report states that "every officer we interviewed cited understaffing as the primary reason for long response times." The report adds that during the times this case was active there were often 30 to 40 calls pending in the 911 queue.
Public statements by the chief
In both the Moturi and Lussier cases, the auditor chided the chief for making harmful public statements about the cases. In the Moturi case, the auditor pointed out the chief appeared to blame Moturi in part for causing his own shooting. On the day of the shooting, the chief stated that Moturi had told officers that Sawchuk threatened to shoot him if he touched the tree he had cut down.
The death of Allison Lussier
Auditor to review Minneapolis death investigation
The Minneapolis city auditor will conduct a special review of the police department?s investigation into Allison Lussier?s death, a move welcomed by her family.
Local perspective:
Allison Lussier was found dead in her North Loop apartment in February 2024. When police found her body, they say Lussier had been dead for some time.
The Hennepin County Medical Examiner was unable to determine how Lussier died. A public report on her death notes Lussier died from a subdural hematoma – bleeding in her brain – and had fentanyl and methamphetamine in her system.
Lussier's family believes she died from domestic violence and thinks police didn't do enough to investigate the case. For months, they pushed the department to move forward with charges against her partner.
What they're saying:
In 2024, O'Hara defended the department's handling of the case, saying that it's very difficult to move forward with an investigation once a death has been marked "undetermined" by the medical examiner.
However, last week, the chief said he had met with the family and vowed to give the case a fresh look, saying it is being treated as a homicide. He also apologized for his characterization of the amounts of drugs in Lussier's system at the time of her death.
At Wednesday's hearing, the chief once again issued a public apology to the family when pressed to do so by Council Member Jason Chavez.
"I apologize, I'm sorry," said O'Hara. "And we are committed to moving forward together. And I'm thankful again to [Lussier's], to other community members that she invited that were present with us advocates for their willingness to have a conversation with us and to move, to move forward and try and improve things for the future."
What the auditor found
What to know:
Like the Moturi case, the auditor found several failures on the part of the department.
One of the more troubling findings is the police department failed to obtain the medical examiner's official report on Lussier's death until the audit team requested it. That was after the chief made multiple "problematic public statements" about Lussier's death.
Once the report was in hand, the auditor says the report shows that drugs were not the cause of Lussier's death, and that statements O'Hara made about Lussier having "massive" amounts of fentanyl in her system were false.
The other side:
However, the report still does not show a clear cause of Lussier's death and, as stated previously, the manner of death is listed as undetermined.
According to the report, the Minneapolis Police Department did submit the Lussier case to the Hennepin County Attorney's Office for charging consideration. However, no charges have been filed against Lussier's former partner. However, the report states there is still an active investigation into the case.
Changes made and recommended
What's next:
The report issued a number of recommendations for both the Moturi case and the Lussier death. Some of the recommendations include:
Moturi recommendations
- Develop a procedure to escalate cases after a case exceeds a certain number of 911 calls.
- Update the police system to group past calls for the same person or address.
- Update the police system to flag repeated calls for the same person or address.
Lussier death
- Require investigators to submit all completed domestic abuse "gone on arrival" cases for charging consideration. In Lussier's case, investigators never submitted July 2022 assault charges because they were unable to make contact with Lussier. The Hennepin County Attorney requested a rush warrant in the case that police failed to honor. It also took more than two weeks for police to assign an investigator to the case.
- Work with the Hennepin County Attorney's Office to develop a charging timeline for domestic abuse GOA cases.
- Create rules requiring the crime lab to process DOA scenes where there is a history of domestic abuse. If the crime lab is determined not to be needed, investigators are instead required to collect evidence showing why.
Communication issues
In both cases, the auditor flags communication issues between the police department and the Hennepin County Attorney's Office. In the report, the chief and Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty acknowledged they hadn't talked to each other in months. However, the report indicates that "they would be willing to open the line of communication between them again."
In a statement to FOX 9, the Hennepin County Attorney's Office on the report:
"All victims of violence in our community deserve system responses as swiftly as possible. We have scrutinized HCAO policies and practices and improved in the last three years.
"After just hearing from the auditor that MPD is open to regular meetings, we’ve reached out to MPD again to set those up to discuss how to improve our shared response to these situations."
Lussier's aunt responds
What they're saying:
"What we heard today makes one thing clear: these failures are not isolated. They are systemic and the cost has been measured in lives," said Jana Williams, Lussier's aunt. "We will continue to push for transparency, for answers and for charges in Allison’s case because what this audit revealed today, the gaps, the failures, only reinforces what we have been saying all along. "
She accuses the department of cover-ups and calls for better discipline for officers and investigators who fail to respond or investigate properly.
"Chief O’Hara, this is non-negotiable. Our community is calling on you to show real leadership, not tomorrow, not after another review. Today. Today, Chief O’Hara. Because this is not just about one case. This is about a system that has failed too many for far too long...and we are done waiting."
Chief O'Hara responds
What they're saying:
"The Davis Moturi and Allison Lussier cases had a profound impact on the families and resulted in understandable public concern about how the department responded over time to these complex and evolving situations," said O'Hara. "First, those who suffered domestic violence do so where they live. It is a terrifying reality for victims to live through and to live with. Domestic violence cases are often complicated, deeply personal, dangerous and constantly evolving. Our response and our investigations must reflect that reality, and they must be addressed with urgency. In a similar way, escalating neighbor disputes can leave people feeling trapped in their own homes, living with ongoing fear and uncertainty. No matter the circumstances, those who reach out for help deserve the very best. From the City of Minneapolis and our police department. The police department is a learning organization. We continually evaluate our strategies, our practices, and our performance. That is why I was immediately supportive and thankful for this audit and after-action review. There is real value in this level of an independent evaluation as we remain committed to improving the service and protection that we provide for everyone in our community."
O'Hara added that the department is continuing to work to address gaps in service and acknowledged that they've already taken steps to improve the department's ability to respond to cases.