Minneapolis releases video of officers wounded in deadly apartment shooting

Minneapolis authorities have released video footage showing the moment two police officers were wounded while responding to a shooting at an apartment building earlier this month.

The videos, made public on Wednesday, show officers moving through an upper-floor hallway toward a person lying on the ground when Carlton Johnson emerges from behind a corner and opens fire with a handgun. Officer Joseph Michnowski is struck and runs past the victim as more shots ring out.

"Shooter's on the ninth floor. I took some rounds," Michnowski says over his radio, holding up a shaking left hand that appears slightly damp. Other officers, now separated from him, call out from a stairwell landing to ask if he is alright.

Moments later, more gunfire is heard as Officer Yahye Mahmed Ahmed stands at the stairwell landing with his weapon pointed into the hallway. Yellow smoke suddenly fills the doorway, and the officers retreat down the stairs. "Oh, I got hit," Ahmed shouts.

Johnson was killed by police during the encounter.

According to Drew Evans, superintendent of the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, the violence began outside the building's entrance during an arranged custody handoff. Johnson shot and wounded the woman believed to be the mother of his child; the child was not hurt. He then shot and injured two building employees before taking an elevator to the ninth floor, where he killed two residents before officers shot him. Evans said it was unclear whether Johnson was targeting the residents or encountered them by chance in the hallway.

The building's owners had been trying to evict Johnson, who had threatened neighbours and warned he planned to shoot people, according to residents, court documents and law enforcement officials. At least one person had sought a restraining order against him. Police investigated him in June for displaying a weapon, but the county attorney's office declined to file charges.