Minnesota man allegedly shot while doing yard work by neighbor amid year-long dispute

A Minnesota man was shot in the neck as he was cleaning up his yard by a 54-year-old neighbor who had warned him not to touch a specific tree on the property amid nearly a year of “racially charged threats.”Surveillance footage of the shooting showed Davis Moturi working outside of his Minneapolis home pruning a tree when the bullet struck him in broad daylight.Police alleged that Moturi’s neighbor, John Sawchak, pulled the trigger after months of growing tensions between the neighbors.“The bullet went down through my neck, and then all the way back to my spine,” Moturi told KARE 11.A criminal complaint, obtained by CNN, said Moturi, who is black, claimed his white neighbor used “racially charged language” in October 2023 and called him a “black bastard” in May.Moturi reportedly called the police to report at least 19 incidents of threats, hate speech and harassment by Sawchak but nothing was done.Moturi told police his neighbor threatened to shoot him “if he touched a specific tree.” While Moturi was cutting that tree, Shawchak allegedly shot the neighbor from his open upstairs window.Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara admitted his department “failed” at preventing the shooting and agreed officers should have responded much sooner before Moturi was shot on Oct.

23, the outlet added.“We failed this victim 100%,” Chief O’Hara admitted.Cops knew Sawchak had mental health issues and tried to arrest the alleged gunman for at least six months, Chief O’Hara claims.“We have been trying to get this person into custody safely, which would mean getting him outside of the house when he is not near guns or any other weapons,” Chief O’Hara added.On Oct 28., a SWAT team and special tactics unit broke the windows of the accused shooter’s home after a behavioral threat team, a psychiatrist and members of his family failed to get him to come out of his home. When police entered the home, Sawchak surrendered and was taken into custod...