Officers named in fatal shooting of Jamar Clark
MINNEAPOLIS (KMSP) - The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension released on Wednesday the names of the two Minneapolis police officers involved in the fatal shooting of 24-year-old Jamar Clark.
-Officer Mark Ringgenberg has been a police officer for seven years, including 13 months with Minneapolis Police Department.
-Officer Dustin Schwarze has been a police officer for seven years, including 13 months with Minneapolis Police Department.
Both officers were placed on standard administrative leave.
The BCA is still asking anyone who witnessed or captured video of the shooting contact the BCA at 651-793-7000.
On Tuesday night, the Hennepin County Medical Examiner’s Office said Clark died of a gunshot wound to the head. BCA officials confirmed they have several sources of video related to the shooting death in Minneapolis early Sunday morning, but say they will not release the footage due to the ongoing investigation.
Clark was shot during a confrontation with Minneapolis police outside an apartment on the 1600 block of Plymouth Avenue North shortly after midnight on Sunday. Police say preliminary reports indicate Clark was not handcuffed, but witnesses have disputed that claim and say he was in handcuffs and unarmed.
Agents have obtained videos from the ambulance on the scene, a police camera and several public housing authority cameras in the area and from witnesses who captured the incident on their cell phones, Minnesota BCA superintendent Drew Evans said at a press conference Tuesday afternoon. No body or dash camera video was taken during the incident.
Evans said none of the videos agents have received so far have captured the incident in its entirety.
The BCA will not release the videos, despite pleas from protestors, because it does not want to compromise the integrity of their external investigation.
“[We] don’t want to taint the interviews that may be ongoing with witnesses in this case and by having the videos being public we may potentially taint portions of the investigation,” Evans said.
Evans confirmed handcuffs were found at the scene.
“We’re still examining whether [the handcuffs] were on Mr Clark or if they just fell out at the scene. That’s what we are trying to assert.”
Evans did not confirm whether Clark was unarmed, but said there were no weapons found at the scene.
The investigation, which has been given top priority, is expected to take two to four months. Once the investigation is complete, the BCA will present their findings to the Hennepin County attorney's office for review and they will determine how to proceed with the case.