John Herbert Sawchak Shooting: A man wanted for attempted murder has been apprehended after a multi-hour standoff overnight in Minneapolis. According to Police Chief Brian O’Hara, 54-year-old John Herbert Sawchak walked out of his south Minneapolis home and was apprehended soon before 1:30 a.m., as his officers prepared to discharge gas into the home on the 3500 block of Grand Avenue. S. Sawchak was wanted on accusations of second-degree attempted murder and first-degree assault after allegedly shooting his next-door neighbor, Davis Moturi, while trimming a tree on the property boundary on October 23.
Around 8:30 p.m. Sunday, dozens of Minneapolis police officers and SWAT Team members surrounded the residence and announced to Sawchak over a loudspeaker that they had a warrant and were there to arrest him. The defendant was urged to escape the house by the rear door and obey the cops’ directions, but he did not. Police said this was an extremely risky circumstance because Sawchak possesses guns and is familiar with improvised explosive devices.
Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara told reporters after the operation that his officers contacted Sawchak’s family several times to get information about his mental health difficulties, and they spoke with a psychiatrist about how to proceed to reach a peaceful conclusion. Crisis negotiators attempted to contact the defendant directly by using several phone numbers and email addresses.
“This was a plan put into action earlier today.” We called in hundreds of police to help, including SWAT, drone operators, crisis negotiators, patrol cops, and command staff,” O’Hara explained. “I’m pleased to inform that, following a series of meticulous and systematic actions, including regular announcements, the individual safely emerged from the house before us, requiring us to put gas into the house. “That was our next step.”
“What we had tonight was an extraordinarily dangerous situation,” Mayor Jacob Frey stated. “You have a mentally ill person likely in possession of firearms and knowledge of explosive devices, all taking place in a residential location. That is a cocktail that could have erupted at any moment. It requires tenacity as well as a willingness to do this well.”
O’Hara and his officers were under increasing public pressure to arrest Sawchak following Wednesday’s alleged shooting, which came after months of mounting threats of violence. The chief held a heated press conference late last week after receiving a letter from the Minneapolis City Council expressing outrage at the MPD for allegedly failing to act on numerous complaints against Sawchak prior to the shooting and failing to arrest him immediately after Moturi was wounded.
“MPD has yet to apprehend the suspect, despite charges from the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office for attempted murder, first-degree assault, stalking, and harassment, as well as a request from the HCAO for a warrant with a $1 million bail. MPD informed the HCAO that they do not intend to execute the warrant ‘for reasons of officer safety,'” according to the Minneapolis City Council memo.
O’Hara responded by telling reporters that Sawchak is mentally ill, and that the MPD has been waiting for him to leave his home to avoid a “high-risk” situation in which cops could use deadly force. “If we ended up in a fatal situation, the headlines would read ‘MPD shot mentally ill person’,” O’Hara insisted.
Davis Moturi is still in the hospital after suffering a fractured back, two broken ribs, and a concussion in Wednesday’s shooting. According to Moturi, the instances range from using racial slurs and tossing stuff to holding up a knife and threatening to kill him.
“If you’re saying you’re scared, what does that do to me?” Moturi said. “You have this body armour and professional training. When I called for help, when I requested to have a knife pointed at me, I had to wait for hours and hours.” The Hennepin County Attorney’s Office issued a statement after the standoff and Sawchak’s arrest. “We are relieved that Mr. Sawchak is in custody, as the cases against him can now proceed. Our thoughts have been and will continue to be with the Moturis as they recover from this deeply traumatic event.”
City Council member Emily Koski was more pointed in her reaction to the arrest, indicating that the debate over how MPD leadership handled this case is far from over.
“I extend my heartfelt gratitude to the dedicated officers of the Minneapolis Police Department for their tireless efforts to bring resolution in the face of this tragedy,” Koski wrote in a message to the newspaper. “We owe it to our community to fully dive into and come to understand the factors that allowed this to occur and to ensure that no resident’s plea for safety goes unanswered again.”
“We need to restore trust in our City’s public safety system, and that starts with leadership we can trust,” according to Koski.
John Herbert Sawchak was charged with attempted murder for allegedly shooting his neighbour, but was not arrested. The case has set off a political firestorm. I wish I could say it is difficult to believe my family is going through this. Unfortunately, what happened to my husband is just one of many examples of a lack of justice for black men.
We purchased our first home in September 2023. What should have been the beginning of a wonderful chapter with my husband turned into a living nightmare.
Shortly after we moved in, our neighbour started harassing, threatening, and stalking us. Despite multiple calls to the police for assistance, we were consistently informed that nothing could be done. At one point an officer who responded to our distress advised us to “just move out.”
Our neighbor attempted to attack Davis with a gardening tool while 10ft in the air doing house work on a ladder. On a second instance John (our neighbor) chased him with a shovel. Despite these repeated acts of aggression a warrant was only issued when I, his white wife, stated I was being verbally threatened.
In addition Davis did manage once to physically restrain John when he was outside with other neighbors and witnesses present. 911 was called and authorities got to the scene only for the officers to LET HIM GO despite their being an active warrant out for his arrest.
We have sought out to everyone, every support service for aid. Despite my husband nearly losing his life, the head of the 5th precinct, Christie Nelson, and the chief of MPD Brian O’Hara have informed us they will not enter his home to execute the warrant for his arrest. He has been charged with attempted homicide among many other felony level counts nevertheless he remains comfortably at home and is an ongoing threat to public safety.
Davis Moturi GoFundMe
A GoFundMe Account has been created to help offset Davis Moturi’s hospital bills. We have reached the point where we need everyone to be outraged with us and demand action. How many times does the country need to see the justice system fail black men before the system changes? My husband is laying in a hospital bed from a gunshot wound in his neck, which traveled a downward trajectory to fracture T7 and 2 ribs. In addition he has suffered a concussion and had a chest tube inserted in his side to drain blood from his lungs.
Due to the inaction of the MPD, once my husband is discharged from the hospital he will be unable to recover in the comfort of his own home. We have no idea as to when it will be safe to return home as the police continue to protect this man over the safety of the community.
My heart is broken. We aren’t safe in our home. I can’t bring myself to think of where we would be had the angle of the bullet been slightly different.
My husband is alive with no thanks to the MPD or mayor Frey. We will fight not only for the justice we deserve but also for the protection and safety of our community we cherish.
