A 50-year-old unarmed man is dead after Waukesha police officers shot and killed him while responding to a theft in progress call Tuesday morning.
The Waukesha Chief of Police said officers were called to a CarMax near Kossow and W. Bluemound Road at 2:30 a.m.
We wanted to learn exactly what led up to this shooting. There are several businesses surrounding the area where the shooting happened and most of them, from what we saw, have surveillance cameras.
Not a single business would let us see any surveillance footage around the time of the incident.
"Respond for theft of vehicle in progress at CarMax. Subject in the vehicle messing with the steering column in the sales lot, in row B. Security can see it on camera," one police officer said to dispatchers.
TMJ4 obtained sound from the police scanner as Waukesha officers were responding to Tuesday's incident.
"Why don't you stay in your car until he runs into a car and takes off," another officer advises.
Over the next minute, dispatchers were talking with officers who said they were setting up a perimeter around CarMax.
"I have eyes on him, he's walking towards Bluemound right now," an officer said.
"Copy. I don't see him yet, but he should be coming towards me then," the other officer responded.
At this point on the police scanner recording, police seem to have made contact with the man.
"He's got his hands in his pockets, not cooperative."
It's unclear what's being said between police and the man, but the word 'taser' was mentioned on police radio.
"Continuing to walk northbound towards Comfort Inn. Running northbound, foot pursuit, white male, black sweatshirt, blue jeans," an officer said.
Just 30 seconds later on the police scanner, shots were fired.
TMJ4's Sydni Eure met a woman on the scene who said the man shot and killed was her husband. The woman didn't want to share her name but said that they were staying at the Extended Stay America Suites just behind the scene on Kossow Road.
In a press conference hours after the shooting, Waukesha Police said when officers approached the man, he became "non-compliant," and that they took several "non-lethal" actions to get the man to comply. They said the man made a motion like he was drawing a gun.
"The whole incident is a tragic incident and unnecessary," said Daniel Thompson, Waukesha Police Chief. "If the suspect would have complied this would not have happened.”
Four officers have been placed on administrative leave while the Milwaukee Police Department takes over as the lead agency for an outside investigation.
The officers involved are:
- a 34-year-old with 11 years of law enforcement experience
- a 37-year-old with 3 years of law enforcement experience
- a 29-year-old with 5 years of law enforcement experience, and
- a 24-year-old with 2 years of law enforcement experience.
"I’ll say this, anytime there is a loss of life it’s a sad day," said Thompson. "But I also want to say that when officers are forced in situations where they have to use deadly force, it’s very traumatic and impactful to them as well. So my thoughts go out to all this involved and the family members of the suspect.”
Chief Daniel Thompson said his officers acted in accordance with state statute. The police department is working on identifying the man and notifying next of kin.
Jenna Rae requested both body camera and dash camera footage from Waukesha PD on Tuesday afternoon. The request was denied.
Rae also requested surveillance footage from the city of Waukesha because there are cameras that sit on the stoplights of Bluemound and Kossow. She's waiting to hear back on that request.
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