Minneapolis cops tried to buy a gun from a black man, 23, in undercover sting operation before they shot him dead following a tip from an informant
Minneapolis police officers were trying to buy a handgun in an undercover operation before shooting dead a 23-year-old suspect last week, according to search warrant documents released Monday.
The shootout ensued Wednesday night when police moved in to arrest black man Dolal Idd at a south Minneapolis gas station, the documents said.
Idd, who was suspected of illegally selling firearms, died at the scene.
Officers were being helped by a confidential informant to attempt to buy a MAC-10 high capacity pistol from Idd before the shootout began.
After the shooting, cops carried out a raid on his father's home where the informant had also told them that they would find further firearms that Idd planned to sell illegally.
No firearms were found at the house and Idd's father Bayle Gelle has complained that children were present as family members were roughly treated by officers.
Authorities had previously said that Idd was being sought in a weapons investigation, but the search warrant documents provided the first detailed account of why police were focused on Idd.
He was prohibited from possessing guns because of a 2018 weapons offense for possessing a stolen shotgun.
Bodycam video showed Idd attempting to drive away from police before his vehicle was hemmed in during the arrest attempt Wednesday. It was difficult to make out more detail. The driver's window shatters, an officer is heard swearing, and at least a dozen shots are fired
After the shooting, cops carried out a raid on his father's home where the informant had also told them that they would find further firearms that Idd planned to sell illegally. Pictured is bodycam footage of the raid but no extra firearms were found
After Idd was killed, cops also raided the home of his father Bayle Adod Gelle where an informant had claimed they would find more guns. Gelle is pictured during a protest on Sunday
In the search warrant application, BCA Special Agent Brandon Johnson said the informant told police that Idd had firearms at his home.
The agent said that due to Idd's history of weapons and narcotics arrests he sought authorization for a nighttime raid of Idd's home, which was owned by Idd's father.
Idd had an October 2018 count of felony dangerous weapons-reckless discharge of a firearm for firing a gun inside the home and it was the address listed for his stolen shotgun charge.
He also noted that Idd's brother, who had also lived there, was recently arrested by Bloomington police in a gun homicide.
The agent asserted that investigators believed they would find weapons at the residence, and they were concerned that evidence could be moved or destroyed when Idd's family learned of his death.
Hennepin County District Judge Peter Cahill, who is presiding over the cases of four ex-Minneapolis police officers charged in George Floyd's death, approved the search warrant.
Johnson later reported back that no firearms, ammunition or other potential evidence related to firearms was found in the early Thursday search.
Bayle Gelle has complained that frightened family members were treated roughly and handcuffed with plastic ties during the search, while children were present.
He has said that officers would not initially tell them the reason for the search and that Idd was dead.
According to the MPD, the medical examiner typically notifies the family of a death.
The city released a brief clip from one officer's body-camera in two versions, one of them slowed down to make it easier to follow the attempt to arrest Odd before he was shot
'My guess is this is someone [Dolal Idd] would have known,' Kyle Loven, a former FBI special agent, told KSTP of the informant in the case.
'My guess is if he hadn't known this person, he would've been suspicious and probably would not have shown up to allegedly make the firearms transfer.'
'It's a little unusual that they that additional weapons or evidence of weapons sales were not found,' Loven added of the raid.
'It's probably more the exception than the rule but it's not unheard of.'
Jaylani Hussein, the executive director of Minnesota chapter of the Council on American- Islamic relations, claimed to KSTP that the lack of firearms at the premises cast doubt on the whole investigation.
'This entire operation now has even more questions today than yesterday,' he said.
Online court records showed a string of minor traffic charges against Idd (pictured), but also a felony theft conviction in 2018 and a felony drug conviction in 2017
'Right now every fact that we have received has either been inconclusive or it has led to us to us to believe there was misconduct by the police based on a lie from an informant.'
'They kept the door open while people were almost half naked, they entered the home believing that everyone was going to be violent and they did not provide a clear answer as to what was exactly taking place,' Hussein added.
'I think many families may not recognize this but for people of color, when law enforcement come into your home in this manner it sets off a great deal of post-traumatic stress.
'This is a trauma this family is going to live with beyond what took place,' he continued.
Minneapolis Police Chief Medaria Arradondo released a 27-second clip from one officer's body-camera video on Thursday and said it showed that Idd shot first before officers opened fire during an attempted felony traffic stop.
A preliminary report from the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) on Monday also said Idd fired first.
Crime scene personnel from the state Bureau of Criminal Apprehension spotted a black and silver handgun between Idd's body and the center console of the car he was driving, the documents said.
The documents did not say whether the gun was the same type that investigators were trying to buy.
The scene at 36th St and Cedar Ave S after Idd was shot and killed by Minneapolis police officers on Wednesday. The BCA also identified the officers involved as Paul Huynh, a six-year veteran; Jason Schmitt; a 23-year veteran; and Sgt. Darcy Klund, a 33-year veteran
Investigators work at the scene of a Holiday gas station where Minneapolis police officers shot and killed Idd on Wednesday as they attempted to buy a gun in an undercover operation
A resident ties to calm tensions between community members and police after the police-involved shooting on Wednesday just a mile from where George Floyd was killed
A female passenger who owned the vehicle but was not named in the documents told investigators that she was Idd's girlfriend but knew him only as 'Bird,' a nickname that police knew he used.
The BCA said Monday that its preliminary investigation has found that Idd struck several police vehicles with his car, 'then fired his weapon at officers. The three officers returned fire, fatally striking Mr. Idd'.
The agency said they recovered both a handgun and a MAC-10 assault-style handgun from Idd's car.
The BCA also identified the officers involved as Paul Huynh, a six-year veteran; Jason Schmitt; a 23-year veteran; and Sgt. Darcy Klund, a 33-year veteran.
The investigation is continuing.
The Hennepin County Sheriff's Office also released body camera video of the search on Saturday.
Sheriff David Hutchinson said the video showed that his deputies and other officers involved in the search acted professionally and appropriately.
Bayle Gelle (pictured), of Eden Prairie, said Thursday that the dead man was his son, Idd. Gelle said that authorities haven't given him any more information about what happened and never said his son was dead even as they raided his home with children present
Protesters rally against police brutality on Sunday in Minneapolis, at the gas station where Dolal Idd was shot by Minneapolis police several days earlier after cops attempted to arrest him
While Idd was killed in Hennepin County, Dakota County Attorney James Backstrom said his office will review the case to determine whether the officers involved 'were legally justified to use deadly force under Minnesota law, and if not, to handle any prosecution which may result'.
He noted that prosecutors in the five largest counties in the Minneapolis-St. Paul metro area have agreed to do so with police shootings, or to call in the state attorney general's office, to avoid any appearance of a conflict of interest.
Hundreds of people marched near the gas station Sunday to protest the city's first police-involved death since Floyd died after being restrained by officers in May.
Idd, a Somali American, was killed less than a mile from the street corner where a white Minneapolis officer pressed his knee on Floyd's neck for several minutes, even as Floyd pleaded that he could't breathe.
The May 25 death of Floyd, who was black, sparked days of sometimes violent protests that spread around the country and resonated worldwide.
In Minneapolis, Floyd's death also led to a push for radical change in the police department, long criticized by activists for what they called a brutal culture that resisted change.
Protesters rally against police brutality in Minneapolis on Sunday after the death of Dolal Idd
A push by some City Council members to replace the department with a new public safety unit failed this summer.
Mayor Jacob Frey and Arradondo, who opposed doing away with the department, have offered several policy changes since Floyd's death, including revising use-of-force policies and requiring officers to report on their attempts to de-escalate situations.
Just this week, the chief and mayor unveiled a new plan to involve the city attorney's office more quickly in investigations of officers accused of misconduct.
Frey called the shooting 'a tragic and difficult day capping what has been a tragic and difficult year'.
He expressed condolences to Idd's family, and said the quick release of the body-camera video was part of the city's attempt to be more transparent.
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