In this episode of Behind the Bodycam, retired NYPD Lieutenant Detective Ralph Cilento breaks down dramatic police bodycam footage from the deadly Minneapolis mass shooting at the Shoreline Plaza apartments. Gunman Carlton Johnson II had allegedly threatened neighbors, faced eviction and recently had his car repossessed before a violent rampage left two neighbors dead and six people injured, including three Minneapolis police officers. Responding cops race into the high-rise, climb toward the ninth floor and suddenly find themselves exchanging gunfire with an active shooter in a narrow apartment hallway.
Using multiple bodycam angles, Ralph analyzes how officers clear blind corners, use cover and suppressive fire, communicate while under fire and react when their fellow officers are shot. From the terrifying moment the gunman appears at the end of the hallway to an exploding fire extinguisher filling the corridor with haze, Ralph pauses the footage to explain the split-second tactical decisions officers must make when there is almost no margin for error.
Ralph Cilento is a retired NYPD Lieutenant Commander of Detectives who spent more than two decades leading homicide and major-case investigations before serving as Chief Investigator for the Putnam County District Attorney’s Office. A former commander of the NYPD’s Detective Bureau Training Division and founder of Blue Top Consulting, a firm specializing in law-enforcement training, consulting and expert-witness services, Ralph has educated thousands of law enforcement professionals and brings an expert’s eye to every split-second decision caught on bodycam.
