Minneapolis residents spoke about the city’s handling of a year-long dispute between neighbors that culminated in a shooting last month during a city committee meeting Tuesday.

Davis Moturi, who is Black, was trimming a tree in his yard with a chainsaw on October 23 when he was shot by his white next door neighborJohn Sawchak, 54 years old. A medical examination found that a small caliber bullet had pierced Moturi’s neck and was embedded near his spine.

According to court documents, Moturi and his wife have made at least 19 reports to police of Sawchak’s racist threats and rants since they moved into their home in the 3500 block of Grand Avenue in September 2023, including separate incidents in the weeks leading up to the shooting in which Sawchak held a knife to Moturi and pointed the gun at him.

In the wake of the shooting, city leaders criticized the Minneapolis Police Department for letting Sawchak continue to terrorize the Moturi family, despite the Hennepin County District Attorney’s Office issuing a warrant for his arrest in July over threats of violence. Sawchak had three active warrants before the shooting, and police did not arrest him until five days after that.

Residents who spoke at a Minneapolis City Council Committee of the Whole meeting Tuesday said the shooting was the latest in a long line of cases where a black person has been hurt by the actions — or inaction — of the Department of by Minneapolis Police.

“So it was no surprise every time I saw the reports and outrage about Sawchak’s brazen violence go completely unchecked and with pathetic attempts by MPD to step in because Sawchak is part of the plan,” said the resident of Minneapolis, Julia Johnson. “He’s a vigilante doing MPD’s job to keep us in line, to know our place.”

Several people brought up the police killings of George Floyd and Jamar Clark, and another person contrasted MPD’s refusal to arrest Sawchak with the fatal shooting of Amir Locke while MPD officers were serving a restraining order.

“Sawchak is over a year old in this case alone, and yet Amir Locke, who had no warrant, who was not involved in any crime, had six seconds from when they kicked in the door,” a resident named Keith . he confessed.

Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara initially defended his department’s actions and said his officers had difficulty convincing Sawchak — whom O’Hara characterized as a “recluse” who could be armed and dangerous – outdoors. O’Hara later apologizedsaying MPD “failed” Moturi.

Before the public hearing in council chambers, O’Hara announced an expanded partnership with the NAACP and several other volunteer organizations, known as the city’s Community Mediation Team (UCMT). The hope is to improve the city’s response to neighbor disputes before someone is seriously hurt and add physical spaces where people can get help without relying on the police.

The ad began with an acknowledgment that Moturi’s life was in danger and the system had failed him.

“To be clear, Mr. Moturi called the police several times, did everything he needed to do to try to get help, but unfortunately the Minneapolis Police Department alone was unable to provide him that help, and again, we’re sorry about that,” O’Hara said.

“So to me, when you apologize, you’re not only apologizing, but you’re saying, hey, how can we do this right?” said Minneapolis NAACP President Cynthia Wilson. “It won’t be overnight. Something could happen tomorrow, something could happen tonight, but we are working to make things better. And so this is a great start.”

A complete list of UCMT locations and times is available here.

O’Hara said his department’s internal investigation into police actions leading to Moturi’s shooting continues.

“And almost every day, you know, we’re learning things that we weren’t aware of before,” the chief said. “It’s a complicated issue. It’s been going on for some time, and there were multiple facets of the system involved.”

Council members also have called for an independent review.

Click here for a GoFundMe created by the Moturi family while navigating medical bills and missing work.

Sawchak is charged with attempted second-degree murder, first-degree assault, stalking and bias harassment. He remains in custody at the Hennepin County Jail on $600,000 bail, and his next hearing is scheduled for Nov. 25.