SOUTH MILWAUKEE — A 43-year-old man was shot and killed by South Milwaukee Police officers Monday afternoon.
SMPD tells TMJ4 News that officers were called to a home at Blake and 8th avenues just after 1 p.m. regarding a 911 call about a man having suicidal thoughts.
Officers arrived and spoke with the man. Police say the man was armed with a gun and, at some point, fired the weapon once. Police say an officer returned fire, striking the man and ultimately killing him.
The man's firearm was recovered from the scene, according to police.
The officer who fired his weapon is a 22-year veteran of the police department, SMPD says. He will be placed on administration leave, as is standard practice in an officer-involved shooting. Per protocol, an outside agency, identified as the Greenfield Police Department, will be leading the investigation into the incident.
Police say it was a "friend" who made the original 911 call.
South Milwaukee Police Chief William Jessup said this at a press conference:
"He fired one round in the direction of the officers. One officer returned fire with one round, striking that subject. And the subject is deceased."
A neighbor tells TMJ4 News that he saw three South Milwaukee Police Officers with their weapons drawn, and one officer had a long gun their hand.
He describes the incident:
"They tried talking to this guy, must have asked him three times to put the gun down, put the weapon down. They asked him for his phone number so that they could call him and talk to him - and all of a sudden there were three loud pops and that was it, it was all over," the neighbor says.
The neighbor adds that several people were watching the incident, and were told by police to go back inside. The neighbor TMJ4 News talked with says he could not make out what the man told police.
The Milwaukee County Medical Examiner and Wisconsin Department of Justice were called to the scene. Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm was also spotted at the scene.
