Sylville Smith bolted from the auto with a gun, leading an officer on a short foot chase before the officer shot the 23-year-old.
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Milwaukee officials on Monday sought to tamp down on rumors that a black man shot and killed by an officer on Saturday was not armed, as police grappled with the aftermath of another night of violence in the wake of his death.
Police Chief Edward Flynn told reporters Sunday that Smith ran several meters from his auto before the officer, who is also black, fired his gun.
The death of Sylville Smith, 23, triggered unrest beginning Saturday as protesters torched six businesses, including a gas station, and threw rocks at officers.
The Milwaukee police also said that four police officers were injured, at least one of whom was taken to a hospital after rocks were thrown at the windshield of a squad vehicle.
“Add to that the disrespect that many black people say the police show them”, the Times says, “and many of Milwaukee’s African-American residents are unsurprised by the volatile response after a police officer fatally shot a black man on Saturday”.
Police say Smith had been arrested 13 times before, Chuck Quirmbach of Wisconsin Public Radio reports.
Police body camera footage showed Smith holding a handgun during the encounter, Barrett said at a Sunday news conference.
Gov. Scott Walker, R, released a statement Sunday afternoon saying he had activated the Wisconsin National Guard to “aid local law enforcement upon request”. Check back for updates.
Officers wore riot gear to break up groups blocking traffic and assembling outside a police station. He said RCP members “were the ones who started to cause problems leading into evening by marching and trying to take over” a street corner.
City Alderman Khalif Rainey said the area has been a “powder keg” for potential violence throughout the summer.
Around 11 p.m., police with shields and helmets moved slowly into the intersection, telling a crowd of about 50 people to disperse. Officers used an armored vehicle to retrieve the injured man and take him to a hospital.
“The community was the victim of the disorder and the damage more than anybody else”, Police Chief Ed Flynn said. The police chief said officers exercised restraint and pointedly did not use any force despite the unrest. “He was raising up with it”, Flynn said.
“I’m hopeful that that will not be necessary”, Barrett said. That shooting remains under investigation.
With the release of the files, “the police have the opportunity to end decades of secrecy and denial”, Craig Futterman, a professor at the University of Chicago Law School, told the Monitor.
Police violence against African-Americans has ignited sporadic, sometimes violent protests in the past two years.
Tensions rise again in Milwaukee with one person shot in the neighborhood where the fatal shooting of a suspect by a police officer touched off rioting and arson the previous night. Three police cars were damaged, while one store had its windows broken, the police said.
Because the audio was delayed, he said, it was not clear when the officer fired his weapon. “A young man lost his life. and, no matter what the circumstances, his family must be hurting”.
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“It’s the police. This is the madness that they spark up”.
