St. Paul mayor, city council call for bodycam footage after woman fatally shot

ST. PAUL, Minn. (FOX 9) - City leaders are calling for bodycam footage to be released after St. Paul police shot and killed a woman after a mental health call was placed to 911 on Monday.

At a press conference early Tuesday morning, St. Paul Police Sgt. Mike Ernster said officers were involved in the deadly shooting around 7:20 p.m. the evening prior at a home on the 1100 block of Rose Avenue East.

According to Ernster, officers were called to the home for a suicide in progress when they went to a back room in the residence and found a woman who ultimately pointed a handgun at them. Police then fired their weapons, striking the woman. She was pronounced dead at the scene.

Several St. Paul City Council members and St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter have since released statements on the incident, calling for a transparent process and the release of officer bodycam footage for the public's benefit.

"In order to support healing and continued transparency, we ask for the swift release of body camera footage from this incident, as our police department has done in the past. Many in our community are reeling today with questions," Council Vice President HwaJeong Kim and council members Nelsie Yang and Cheniqua Johnson said in a statement.

The members also offered their "prayers and thoughts" to the "heartbroken family" while saying, "The release of related body camera footage will further transparency for our community."

In a posting to X (formerly Twitter), Mayor Carter also called for "the release of bodycam footage as soon as preliminary witness statements are complete and the family of the deceased has been offered an opportunity to view it."

He also offered his condolences to the family and illustrated the "dangerous and dynamic nature" of the work that police officers endure.

The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) is currently investigating the shooting.

The officers involved were placed on administrative leave.