MPD: Man who threatened to kill himself and shoot at officers taken into custody



Police incident near Murray and Bradford



MILWAUKEE -- A standoff tied up several blocks on Milwaukee's east side on Tuesday morning, Dec. 11. The situation put a school under lockdown.

Police said it was around 6 a.m. when residents in a 20-unit apartment building woke up to find another tenant acting erratically and making threats, even to officers.

"They were defensive threats, like, 'if you try to arrest me, I'm going to shoot you,'" said Lieutenant Eric Donaldson, Milwaukee Police Department.

Police incident near Murray and Bradford



"I was going to take the dog out and they said 'leave and don't come back.' They said the person in question was dangerous," said Stephan Jennings, lives in apartment building.

Jennings said he noticed the tenant acting erratically before, and discussed it with another person in the building.

Police incident near Murray and Bradford



Police incident near Murray and Bradford



Police incident near Murray and Bradford



"He called the landlord to see if there was something that could be done about him -- and this was last week, so I was already concerned last week," Jennings said.

The threats were enough for police to close streets in the area while negotiators talked to the agitated man for three-and-a-half hours, back and forth by phone and through the apartment door. Police said the 44-year-old suspect seemed to have mental health issues, including PTSD, as a military veteran.

Police incident near Murray and Bradford



Eric Donaldson



"One negotiator who was talking to this individual is a military vet himself. I think that factored huge to be able to establish a rapport," said Donaldson.

Eventually, police got the man to surrender. No gun was found, but during the course of negotiations, police did discover that the same suspect had a history of similar police contacts outside of Wisconsin.

Police incident near Murray and Bradford