The naked man killed by law enforcement in Jefferson County may have been involved in a shooting earlier in the day.
Milwaukee police say there was a shooting just before 2:00 a.m. in the 2300 block of S. 33rd Street. Police have not released the name of the suspect yet but the man’s wife says he suffered from mental illness.
“I need to put the word out there of who Randy Engstrom was,” said Mercedes Engstrom. “Randy Engstrom ain’t this crazy man running the streets naked and wild. He was a mentally ill, unstable person who needed help and couldn’t get it.”
Mercedes says she and her husband have been married for three years but have been together for 18 years. Recently, she says they had decided to split up for a break and she thinks it may have caused him to have a mental breakdown.
“This man here was a sick man who needed help and went the wrong way about it,” Engstrom said.
Engstrom is accused of stealing a car Tuesday afternoon and leading police on a chase that ended at the Arby’s near the Johnson Creek outlet mall.
According to police, Engstrom ran towards the fast food restaurant and disregarded their demands to stop. A witness says Engstrom fired his gun in the air and police say he was shot by a deputy with the Waukesha County Sheriff’s Department and an officer with the Delafield Police Department. They’ve both been placed on paid administrative leave which is standard with any officer involved shooting.
Engstrom had been convicted of firing a gun from his car in 2014 which is a felony. So he shouldn’t have had a gun, something his wife doesn’t disagree with.
“No excuses,” Engstrom said. “He shouldn’t have had a gun but if he wanted to harm anyone, it could have happened and it didn’t. That should be a sign there. He didn’t want to harm anyone. He just needed help and didn’t know how to go about it and it went the wrong way.”
Now, Engstrom is left to raise her six children without their father.
“He wouldn’t harm a fly,” Engstrom said. “He’s being portrayed as a drug abuser. Randy didn’t use drugs whatsoever. He was a good man. A good father. A good husband. Now there are six kids who will always remember who Randy is.”
