Three Milwaukee Police Officers Shot While Serving Warrant

A Milwaukee Police Department SUV in downtown Milwaukee. Photo by Jeramey Jannene.

Three Milwaukee Police officers were shot and injured Thursday while trying to arrest a man on a felony warrant.

The shooting happened at about noon at an apartment building on the city’s northwest side. Police Chief Jeffrey Norman said a group of officers from a special investigation division were trying to take the man into custody when he opened fire with a handgun that had a high-capacity magazine.

Four officers at the scene returned fire, and the suspect was also shot.

None of the wounded officers had life-threatening injuries. The suspect also had non-life-threatening injuries.

Norman said the injured officers involved were all veterans of the department with 19 to 21 years of service.

“These four officers (who opened fire on the suspect) will be placed on administrative duty as is routine in officer-involved shootings,” Norman said.

The department’s homicide unit will investigate the incident. He said officers at the scene were wearing body cameras.

Officers were at the scene for more than an hour before the shooting occurred according to statements at a press conference Thursday afternoon.

Norman called officers of the division “the tip of the spear” of the department’s efforts in the community, and said they often use conversation and de-escalation techniques to try to take people into custody peacefully while serving warrants. In this case, he said, the suspect “responded with shots fired.”

Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson said he was grateful the officers involved had “minor” injuries and “are going to be OK.” He also expressed gratitude for the work of the department.

But the mayor said the shooting in an apartment complex in a busy neighborhood is part of a wider problem of reckless behavior involving guns in the community and the nation.

“You could have hurt a kid, you could have hurt a senior citizen, you could have hurt somebody’s mother, somebody’s daughter. Those are what the impacts are,” Johnson said.

“That’s why we continuously make the plea for individuals to not use firearms in this reckless sort of manner. That’s why we continue to ask for help from the state to make sure folks like that don’t get the access — everybody keeps saying criminals won’t obey the law, well try something, try something. We’re doing nothing,” he continued.

3 Milwaukee Police officers injured in shooting was originally published by Wisconsin Public Radio.