Photos: Minneapolis Police Mourn Slain Officer Jamal Mitchell

MINNEAPOLIS — The Minneapolis Police Department is mourning after an officer was ambushed, shot and killed Thursday.

Chief Brian O’Hara told grieving officers early Friday that he was angered and hurt by the ambush death of one of their own as the city and state mourned the loss.

"I am angry and deeply hurt by such a senseless and violent attack on Minneapolis’ Finest," O’Hara said. "As police officers, we know dying in the line of duty is always a possibility but the harsh reality hurts very deeply when it happens."

"I’ve seen the video, and he was ambushed," Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension Superintendent Drew Evans said at a news conference Thursday. "I’m using the term for a reason."

"The city of Minneapolis lost a hero in police officer Jamal Mitchell," Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said. "This officer gave the ultimate sacrifice to protect and save the lives of others. His life, his service and his name will forever be remembered in the city of Minneapolis."

At about 5:15 p.m. Thursday, police received a call of two people shot inside an apartment complex on the 2200 block of Blaisdell Avenue South in the south Minneapolis neighborhood of Whittier.

Mitchell was about two blocks from the complex when he noticed people who were injured. He got out of his car to provide aid to one man, who ended up shooting Mitchell.

Another officer arrived and exchanged gunfire with the shooter, who was killed.

When other officers searched the apartment complex two blocks away, they found two people inside who had been shot, including one who was dead. The other was hospitalized in critical condition.

The connection between the two shooting scenes is not yet clear, but police said the public was not in any danger.

Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension investigators are working with MPD investigators to determine the circumstances surrounding the shooting deaths.

The shooting comes about three months after two officers and a firefighter-paramedic in the Minneapolis suburb of Burnsville were killed while responding to a sexual assault call inside a home.

Reporting from the Associated Press was used in this story.