Members of the Somali community say they are outraged by an officer-involved shooting in Bloomington.

The Hennepin County Medical Examiner says 50-year-old Billie Lobahanow died from multiple gunshot wounds after a scuffle with police Thursday afternoon. He was shot by an officer outside his apartment complex on Lyndale Avenue South just after 2:30 p.m.

Bloomington Police arrived there after a call Bile was threatening his sister and say he came at officers with two knives.

On Friday, Bile’s family and Somali advocates say the shooting wasn’t justified. They tell us Bile had mental problems and wasn’t taking his medications. They say officers could have found other ways to subdue a man who showed obvious signs of mental illness.

“While he was walking towards them, they shot him, that is the family’s account. They did not expect this would happen, said Madhi Haile, of the Center for Somali Solutions of Minnesota. Haile is speaking on behalf of his family who believes officers should have been trained to deal with mental illness.

“If this would have been someone else, we believe and I believe it would be a different response, but because this person looks like Somali or Muslim or black — it happened,” said Haile.

The family along with advocates reached out to Bloomington Police to demand a full investigation.

The officer was not injured in the incident. Police are not releasing the officer’s name at this time.

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