Officer shoots woman in Milwaukee suburb, drawing protesters
Police close roads near the village area following a shooting on Thursday, Dec. 11, 2020 in Wauwatosa, Wis. Authorities say an officer has shot and wounded a woman in the Milwaukee suburb following an altercation, drawing protesters in a city that has seen civil unrest this year over policing.[AP/ Evan Casey, Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel]
An officer has shot and wounded a woman in the Milwaukee suburb of Wauwatosa following what authorities said was an altercation, drawing protesters in a city that has seen civil unrest this year over policing.
Officers responded after a caller reported the woman was violently attacking another woman about 9:30 p.m. Thursday. The alleged attacker was located and an altercation led an officer to shoot the woman, according to authorities.
The woman was taken to the hospital. The person who was shot is in stable condition, Wauwatosa Mayor Dennis McBride said Friday. He said the West Allis Police Department is investigating.
Jennifer Enright, who lives near the shooting scene, said she was talking to her mother around 9:30 p.m. when she gunshots "clear as day." She then saw police lights from her window, the Journal Sentinel reported.
"The sirens weren’t stopping. They kept coming," she said. "It was just crazy to hear."
The Wauwatosa Common Council earlier this year voted to equip every officer with a body camera by the end of the year, but it wasn’t immediately clear whether the shooting was recorded.
The shooting drew about 30 protesters to the area. Some were yelling and cursing at officers.
Wauwatosa was the site of protests and calls for changes to policing after Officer Joseph Mensah shot and killed Alvin Cole, a Black 17-year-old, after he fled from police following a disturbance inside the mall in February.
Mensah, who also is Black, fatally shot three men in the last five years. Those shootings were ruled justified self-defense by the Milwaukee County District Attorney’s Office. Mensah agreed in November to resign from the force.
Matt Dahlstrom was at the scene of the shooting, where officers from a number of area agencies assisted Wauwatosa police, including the Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Office and Wisconsin State Patrol.
"It’s horrible. It is. It’s absolutely horrible. It’s scary. I have kids. I teach so I know tons of kids in the community. It supposed to be a safe community. And, now we’re just seeing so much going on. Flat out it’s just scary," Dahlstrom told WITI-TV.