An arrest warrant has been issued for a Minneapolis man after a yearlong pattern of harassment and intimidation of his neighbors culminated in a shooting earlier this week, according to court documents.

John Herbert Sawchak, 54, is charged with attempted second-degree murder, first-degree assault, stalking and bias harassment.

The victim, Davis Moturi, installed a security camera in his home to capture evidence of the escalating threats. Video of Wednesday evening’s incident shows Sawchak trimming a tree near the property line where his apartment building is located before a “pop” sound is heard. The victim then collapses backwards onto the ground.

“I said, ‘I need to get help.’ Part of my brain shut down,” Davis Moturi told 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS from his hospital bed on Friday.

He called his wife, Caroline Moturi, who rushed home.

“I found him; he was curled up in the fetal position in pain at the entrance,” said Caroline Moturi.

She took her husband to the hospital but was unaware that he had been shot.

According to the criminal complaint, a medical evaluation determined that Davis Moturi was shot with a small-caliber bullet near his spine. The angle of the puncture wound suggested he was shot from above and the bullet entered his neck before breaking his spine and at least two ribs.

Caroline Moturi told police Sawchak “almost certainly” shot her husband, according to the complaint.

A year full of threats

The couple purchased their home in the 3500 block of Grand Avenue South in September 2023. They have since told police they have faced numerous threats from Sawchak, who lives in a second-floor apartment next door.

“It was like hell,” Davis Moturi said of the ongoing ordeal.

A week before the attack, Sawchak allegedly told Moturi, “If you touch my tree again, I will kill you.” Davis had threatened Moturi over the tree as early as October 2023.

Other incidents included threatening to “hospitalize the victim” while he was working on the stairs, having objects thrown at him from a second-floor window, and holding a knife menacingly at his window while threatening the couple. As recently as October 14, Sawchak pointed a gun at the victim from his window. Many of the threats were filled with racial slurs and slurs, according to the complaint.

The Moturis reported a total of 19 incidents of vandalism, property damage, harassment and threats in the year they lived next door.

“I had to call the cops so many times,” Davis Moturi said.

Not arrested for months

Online jail records show Sawchak has not yet been taken into custody. Court records show there were at least three other outstanding arrest warrants for “threats or acts of violence” against the victim and her neighbors.

A spokesman for Hennepin County District Attorney Mary Moriarty said her office charged Sawchak in July with felony threats of violence “as a result of his behavior toward Mr. Moturi” and issued a warrant for his arrest. Prosecutors who filed criminal charges in Wednesday’s shooting were aware of several incidents that have occurred since the arrest warrant was issued.

“Mr. “Moturi and his wife suffered from Mr Sawchak’s aggressive behavior for over a year after purchasing their home in September 2023,” he said. “We will continue to do everything we can to protect it.”

Ward 8 Councilwoman Andrea Jenkins, who represents the Moturi family sent a letter With the support of council members, they expressed outrage that Sawchak was never arrested for these outstanding warrants and was left to terrorize a family who reported being repeatedly threatened.

“We write today with great dismay at MPD’s failure to protect a Minneapolis resident from a clear, persistent and highly reported threat posed by his neighbor,” the letter to Mayor Jacob Frey and Police Chief Brian O’Hara reads.

The letter alleges that MPD failed to file a report with Moriarty’s office when Moturis reported that Sawchak had threatened them with a knife and then a gun in the weeks before the shooting. Additionally, the letter states that “MPD told HCAO that they did not intend to enforce the order ‘for officer safety reasons.'”

“MPD’s failure to act led to Mr Moturi asking: ‘Aren’t I human like you?’ It caused him to ask the question. We echo Mr. Moturi’s heartbreaking question as to why MPD did not protect this Black resident from a clear and serious threat, and why they continue to do so by failing to cooperate with the County Attorney’s Office and arrest the suspect,” the letter states. “MPD leadership and the Mayor “We also have many questions about how and why he allowed this situation to escalate.”

Chief O’Hara lashes out

In a fiery press conference Friday, Chief O’Hara defended the police department’s handling of the case and directed blame at the media, the Hennepin County District Attorney’s Office, the Minneapolis City Council and even the victim for allowing the dispute to escalate into violence.

Officers attempted to arrest Sawchak multiple times, but he never left his home or responded to officers trying to make contact, O’Hara said.

He said there was a “high probability” that execution of a high-risk search warrant would result in a violent confrontation, given that the suspect was mentally ill and known to be armed.

“We wanted to arrest the suspect where he was least likely to have access to firearms. That’s outside the residence,” O’Hara said, adding that until Wednesday, MPD only had a search warrant for threats made by Sawchak. “Unfortunately, the suspect in this case is reclusive and does not leave the house very often.”

O’Hara blamed Davis Moturi for not notifying the MPD lieutenant when Sawchak left the house. Davis said Moturi had to leave the tree on his property alone after Sawchak threatened him about it.

“The situation was escalated in part due to actions initiated by the victim,” O’Hara said.

The chief then took aim at the “current discourse around policing,” saying it “impedes our ability to make lawful arrests.”

“Anyone who suggests the cops didn’t want to arrest this person is absolutely wrong. But frankly, officers are afraid. They are afraid of being judged if they make mistakes while trying to do their job and protect the public,” O’Hara said. “… Damned if you do, damned if you don’t.”

The Chief also expressed disappointment with the letter from City Council members, claiming no one called him before sending the letter. Jenkins, who attended the news conference, told reporters that he had contact with O’Hara, Frey, Moriarty and an MPD investigator “numerous times” before Wednesday’s shooting.

O’Hara took only two questions from the media before leaving the briefing room, but Council Member Jenkins followed him into a hallway, where they had a heated argument behind a closed door and eventually embraced.

Jenkins did not mince words when asked about O’Hara’s comments that officers were afraid to confront Sawchak at his home.

“I can tell you this: We pay our officers a lot of money to do the job they contracted to do, so they have to be willing to do their job,” Jenkins said. “And I think the police chief said everyone has to do their job.”

“He knows he has no defense for what happened,” Moturi said in response to Chief O’Hara’s statement at the press conference. He called O’Hara’s remarks offensive and disagreed with her account of events. According to Maturi, “Crickets when I ask for help.”

He also told 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS about the allegation that his actions contributed to the shooting in a “very disrespectful and very rude” way.

“They treat me like I’m guilty because they mess up and there’s no way to explain it,” Moturi said. “I feel like I’m being treated this way because of the color of my skin.”