Crime & Law
Ohio Police Officers Fatally Shoot Milwaukee Man a Mile From RNC Site
Milwaukee Police Chief Jeffrey Norman addressed the media hours after officers from Columbus, Ohio, fatally shot a man about a mile from the Republican National Convention site on July 16, 2024. (Matt Masterson / WTTW News)
Body camera video released late Tuesday shows Ohio police officers fatally shoot a man about a mile from the Republican National Convention site in Milwaukee.
According to Milwaukee Police Chief Jeffrey Norman, the shooting, which left one man dead, occurred on the city’s Near West Side around 1:10 p.m. Tuesday near King Park.
Norman said 13 Columbus, Ohio, police officers assigned to a bike unit were near King Park undergoing a briefing with supervisors in their assigned zone. Officers from numerous cities outside Milwaukee, including Chicago and Columbus, are in the city assisting with RNC security this week.
The Columbus officers were at 14th and West Vliet streets when they observed a 43-year-old man with two knives engaged in an altercation with an unarmed person.
Late Tuesday evening, Columbus Police Chief Elaine Bryant released body camera footage of the shooting in “the interest of transparency.”
“I have been in contact with the Milwaukee Police Department to advise them of my decision to release this footage,” Bryant said in a statement. “To avoid compromising the integrity of the active investigation being conducted by the Milwaukee Area Investigative Team, the Columbus Division of Police Public Records unit will release the remaining videos in accordance with the investigation.”
In the video, officers can be heard discussing pro- and anti-abortion protesters before one officer points out an ongoing fight and says, “He’s got a knife.” The group of officers then takes off toward the man while repeatedly telling him to drop the knife.
As they approach, the man they’re yelling at appeared to take a step toward another man in the middle of the street before the officers fired a barrage of bullets. One officer repeatedly yells “Hold fire” after the man collapsed to the ground and the video comes to an end.
Norman said a pair of knives was recovered from the scene.
“This was a situation where somebody’s life was in immediate danger,” Norman said. “Someone’s life was in danger, and these officers, who are not from this area, took upon themselves to act to save someone’s life today.”
Graphic Content: Body camera video from Columbus police officers shows the moments leading up to the shooting. (Credit: Columbus Police Department)
But community members were upset that police from outside their city had the authority to use deadly force on a Milwaukee resident outside the security footprint of the RNC.
The Rev. Radontae Ashford of the Infinite Church in Milwaukee repeatedly questioned why Columbus police were working near King Park and whether they had authority. He said the shooting occurred near a tent encampment where several unhoused people reside.
Norman said the officers who fired shots are being interviewed by Milwaukee investigators and are cooperating.
Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 9 President Brian Steel confirmed earlier Tuesday in a statement on social media that members of the Columbus Division of Police had been involved in a shooting. No officers were injured, Steel said.
The Columbus Division of Police said in a statement the shooting took place in an “outer perimeter” where its officers were assigned and did not appear related to the RNC.
Several Columbus officers were involved in patrolling a large-scale protest in downtown Milwaukee Monday. Norman said the officers from that agency were part of a “demonstration response” team during the RNC.
Incidents involving police prior to the shooting had been limited this week. Police announced few arrests around the convention Sunday and Monday, most of which involved disorderly conduct.
But several community members gathered near the shooting scene Tuesday afternoon to express their anger not only that somebody had been killed, but that they had been shot by officers from outside the city.
Alan Chavoya, a member of the Coalition to March on the RNC, said protest organizers had previously expressed concerns about outside police coming to Milwaukee, but never got answers from city officials.
“They told us to trust the process,” he said after the shooting Tuesday. “Well, look at what the process got us.”
