Minneapolis police officer Jamal Mitchell, left, was photographed in a 2023 Minneapolis Police awards ceremony where he was presented with a Lifesaving Award by Chief Brian O’Hara. (Renée Jones Schneider/The Minnesota Star Tribune)

Opinion editor’s note: Editorials represent the opinions of the Star Tribune Editorial Board, which operates independently from the newsroom.

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Jamal Mitchell was a Minneapolis police officer for only about a year and a half. But his courage and character were revealed just three days into his service, when he dashed into a burning building to help rescue an elderly couple, a valorous act that won him a lifesaving award.

“That’s what I got into law enforcement to do,” Mitchell said in February 2023. “Save lives and serve the community.”

That ethos was on display again Thursday as Mitchell responded to a shooting in the Whittier neighborhood. The 36-year-old officer stopped to aid a victim and was himself shot, according to authorities. Despite efforts — heroic in their own right — to save him, Mitchell died, leaving behind a grieving child, a fiancé, a police force, a broader law-enforcement and first-responder community, and the citizens of the city and state.

Three people, including the alleged assailant, were killed, and four were wounded in an attack authorities labeled an “ambush” — echoing a similar tragedy in February in Burnsville when two police officers and a medic were killed responding to a domestic abuse call.

In many ways the region itself feels ambushed by the proliferation of such incidents, with at least 11 in the last 14 months in Minnesota, Iowa, North Dakota and Wisconsin.

“I am angry and hurt by an attack on our officers, but this is a tragedy I was praying we would not have to face,” Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara said in a statement. “As police officers, we know dying in the line of duty is always a possibility, but the harsh reality hurts very deeply when it happens.”

The hurt was readily apparent in the reverence and sorrow shown by hundreds of officers from multiple jurisdictions who lined the streets near the Hennepin County Medical Center Thursday night when Mitchell’s flag-draped coffin departed in a Hennepin County Medical Examiner’s van.

Mitchell “exemplified unmatched dedication, bravery and service in defense of the public,” Brian Peters, executive director of the Minnesota Police and Peace Officers Association, said in a statement. “The officer’s unwavering commitment to safeguarding others will leave a legacy of service that will always be remembered.”

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey described Mitchell as “a courageous hero.” The mayor spoke at a late-night news conference attended by other officials, including Gov. Tim Walz, who said in a statement that “our first responders are first to step in during crisis. We must never take their commitment for granted, and we must ensure they can answer their call of duty without fearing for their own lives.”

Many members of the City Council also were present. While their support was appreciated, unfortunately some at times have taken law enforcement’s commitment for granted. That’s just one of many reasons the city’s law-enforcement staffing levels are so perilously low.

Indeed, Minneapolis needs more police officers and people like Jamal Mitchell, who until his final moments lived up to his creed to save lives and serve the community.