This article has been updated.
Warning: Some may find portions of the video disturbing.
A new video obtained exclusively by Crime Watch Minneapolis shows the final moments before Andrew Tekle Sundberg was killed by Minneapolis police snipers in the middle of the night July 14.
The surveillance video shows plumes of smoke and shattered glass emerging from Sundberg’s apartment. It is unconfirmed if this was caused by gunshots. A source with knowledge of the situation said the blasts may have been caused by 40 mm rounds fired by police.
The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension said it reviewed the apartment complex surveillance video but cannot “discuss exactly what the video shows or release additional information about the investigation at this time” since the case remains open and active.
“We know there’s a lot of interest in this case and we’re working to conduct a thorough and independent investigation,” a spokesperson said. “The BCA is still requesting anyone with video that shows the incident provide it to our investigators. We’d specifically like to see a bystander video filmed from across the street and shared with the media that shows the moments leading to the shooting. The video portal remains open on the BCA Facebook page.”
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey and Interim Police Chief Amelia Huffman called a press conference July 20, six days after the shooting, to release partial body-camera video from the incident.
The press conference was anticlimactic, concluding with this statement: “At this point, a video with a clear depiction of the activities occurring at approximately 4:18 a.m. at 904 21st Avenue has not been identified by MPD.”
The newly-released video was recorded by a camera on the rooftop of Sundberg’s apartment building.
Around 3:30 a.m., a little less than an hour before his death, the video shows smoke and shattered glass projecting from his apartment.
Police snipers didn’t engage Sundberg until 4:18 a.m., when blasts again appear to emerge from his window.
The video shows Sundberg then falling back into his apartment, apparently struck by a fatal bullet.
The events of that deadly morning began roughly six hours earlier, when a single mother phoned 911 to report Sundberg was firing a gun into her apartment where she was looking after her two young children.
“Yes, it literally went straight through the wall, it was two shots. I have kids, two,” the woman told dispatch, according to 911 transcripts.
That woman, Arabella Foss-Yarbrough, later confronted protesters who gathered outside of her apartment building to demonstrate against Sundberg’s death.
“My kids have to deal with this and probably have a mental illness now because they almost lost their lives. There’s bullet holes in my kitchen because he sat in the f–ing hallway watching me move,” she said. “He tried to kill me in front of my kids.”
While the city confessed to having “hundreds of hours” of body-camera footage, they only released 15 minutes.
This isn’t the first time the city has done this. When Amir Locke was shot in an apartment during a SWAT team raid in February, the city chose to release just one video from the incident — from the fourth officer to enter the apartment, whose body camera was obstructed by the officers in front of him.
“It was a justified police shooting. Period,” Steve Sizer, a retired Minneapolis police lieutenant, said of the Sundberg shooting.
Police sources previously told Alpha News Sundberg was seen with a gun in his hand before he was shot.
Alpha News asked Sizer why city officials may have decided to not release more body-camera video and information.
“That question could be asked about every police incident Frey has come across, including George Floyd,” he said. “He has to appease the mob, plain and simple.”
A spokesperson for the city said the BCA “may have video which we have not seen.”
“That remains the case today as we continue to ask anyone who has information — video or other information — to contact the BCA so a thorough investigation can be conducted and concluded,” he said.
Updated at 7:30 p.m.: This article was updated to reflect comments from a source indicating that the blasts seen in the video may have been caused by 40 mm rounds fired by police. A previous version of this article said up to 21 gunshots appeared to emerge from Sundberg’s apartment. It is unconfirmed if any of the blasts seen in the video were caused by gunshots. The article was also updated to include comments from the Minnesota BCA and the city of Minneapolis.
Anthony Gockowski
Anthony Gockowski is Editor-in-Chief of Alpha News. He previously worked as an editor for The Minnesota Sun and Campus Reform, and wrote for the Daily Caller.
