Minneapolis police chief said he contemplated his future during fallout from neighborhood shooting

In the days following revelations that a Black man was shot in the neck by his mentally ill neighbor, after nearly a year of harassment and repeated pleas for help from police, outrage spilled beyond the south Minneapolis block where it occurred and into public discourse.

Residents and elected officials castigated the Minneapolis Police Department for their handling of the case, including a four day delay in arresting the white suspect, John Sawchak. An apology by Chief Brian O’Hara and an acknowledgement that his agency failed victim Davis Moturi did little to ease tensions.

Amid the fallout, O’Hara opined about resigning last month, sources with knowledge told the Star Tribune. Some claimed he went as far as drafting a resignation letter.

U.S. Attorney Andy Luger, a close friend, reportedly phoned allies to highlight O’Hara’s service to the community and encouraged them to reach out. Supporters hoped to prevent a kneejerk decision by a chief known for at times acting on emotion, sources say.

In an interview, O’Hara flatly denied penning a resignation letter. But he admitted to contemplating his future during what he described as a ‘disheartening situation.’ He felt uncertainty about whether he might get fired or be forced out as pressure mounted ahead of a contentious City Council meeting on Halloween.

“That could happen at any time,” he told the Star Tribune this week. “I’m human. I have a wife and I have a family; I’ve got to think about them. ”

O’Hara feared the situation could spiral out of control and make him a distraction that would damage the image of the department at a time when the police force was making progress on reforms. Should it reach that crisis point, he said: “I think you have an obligation as the police chief to step down.”

O’Hara insists it never got that far — and he remains committed to fulfilling his full 3-year term, which expires Jan. 1, 2026.

“I have absolutely no intention of turning my back on the men and women of this department or the people in this community,” he added. “But I know that’s not always necessarily going to be my choice.”

Over the past several weeks, MPD has faced increased scrutiny following a number of high profile incidents, including a brazen balcony shooting in the Lyn-Lake neighborhood where the suspect evaded responding officers and later shot two strangers in Kandiyohi County, killing one. It took Minneapolis police 15 minutes to arrive at the initial crime scene.

Earlier this month, Edgar Barrientos-Quintana’s murder conviction was vacated and he was freed from prison after serving 16 years of a life sentence after Attorney General Keith Ellison’s Conviction Review Unit blamed Minneapolis police, along with prosecutors and the defense, for a “confluence of errors” that led to a wrongful conviction. Christopher Gaiters, one of the investigators on the case is a high-ranking MPD officer, serving as assistant chief of community trust.

Moturi, 34, was shot in his south Minneapolis yard Oct. 23, culminating months of torment from a neighbor he reported to police 19 times. The bullet fractured his spine and broke two ribs.

Five City Council members sent a letter blasting MPD for refusing to arrest Sawchak, despite three outstanding warrants related to threats against his neighbors. Critics accused the embattled department of not caring about Moturi — an insult O’Hara perceived as both false and politically motivated.

In the wide-ranging interview Wednesday, O’Hara recalled the frustration he felt when that letter was made public, “painting us as a failure.”

Dozens of attempts had been made to contact Sawchak inside his south Minneapolis home since April, police said, but he refused to cooperate with law enforcement. During a fiery press conference on Oct. 25, O’Hara defended his officers’ cautious handling of an armed recluse with a violent criminal history. He went on to say that the situation “escalated, in part, by actions precipitated by the victim,” referring to Moturi’s decision to trim a tree near the shared property line that Sawchak had planted with his late mother.

Mayor Jacob Frey and Community Safety Commissioner Todd Barnette, were not notified he was planning to speak to the media or briefed on what he intended to say that day, sources told the Star Tribune.

O’Hara later apologized to Moturi, conceding that MPD had not acted urgently enough to prevent the violence. The admission came hours before an oversight SWAT operation to arrest Sawchak. He was eventually charged with second-degree attempted murder, first-degree assault, stalking and harassment, and remains jailed in lieu of $1 million bail.

The arrest did not temper criticism.

In the days that followed, activists interrupted an Oct. 31 City Council meeting to demand his termination. Several pointed to a perceived racial double standard in how the situation was handled.

“This is not the first instance where the community has raised concerns about his poor judgment, poor leadership, blaming the community and excuses,” said Nekima Levy Armstrong, founder of the Racial Justice Network. “How many Black people’s doors have they kicked in for less?”

But online, O’Hara’s allies rushed to his defense. Supporters, like longtime Northsider Buzzy Bohn, argued that if police had busted down the door of Sawchak’s house and fatally wounded a mentally ill man in the process, those same advocacy groups would’ve protested the response.

“I just feel like there were a lot of opportunities missed there and they weren’t all from MPD,” Bohn, a retired Minneapolis Public Schools teacher, said in an interview.

Frey and Barnette each issued public statements backing O’Hara’s leadership, but agreed with the Council’s call for an independent review of the case to “make sure this never happens again.”

That week, amid growing backlash, O’Hara said he spoke candidly to his wife and a small group of trusted advisors. “I did not know what the next phone call was going to be,” he said, “what the next revelation was.”

Instead, O’Hara says, he heard from dozens of residents voicing their support.

In staff meeting last week, he swatted down resignation rumors tied to a vacancy in his old position of Public Safety Director in Newark, N.J. — O’Hara’s hometown, where his wife, Lt. Wafiyyah O’Hara, still lives. She is currently training to become a Captain on the Newark Police Department.

O’Hara told the Star Tribune he never considered going back, nor has he applied to another job since arriving in Minneapolis.

When he took control of MPD in 2022, city officials heralded him as a transformational leader who could drive culture change in the aftermath of George Floyd’s murder and navigate a court-enforceable consent decree mandating sweeping reforms. The council unanimously confirmed O’Hara, making him the first outsider to lead the department in 16 years.

To remain at the helm beyond 2025, the next mayor would need to reappoint him and the full Council approve it. Frey and all 13 council members are up for reelection next fall.

“In a sense, this is all temporary,” O’Hara said, noting that a two to three year term is not enough time to create sustainable reform.

“I cannot care any more about this town — or the men and women of the police department — than I do,” he added. “I feel like I have been a police chief here 24 hours a day, seven days a week, the entire two years. So I don’t have any more fuel left to give than what I’ve already given.”

“I am very confident that whenever this is over, I’ve left everything on the field here.”

Staff writer Stephen Montemayor contributed to this report.