'A domestic dispute:' Police fatally shot armed man at Lounge 340 near Vel Phillips and Reservoir

MILWAUKEE -- Milwaukee police shot and killed a 49-year-old man late Saturday night, Feb. 29 near Vel Phillips Avenue and West Reservoir Avenue in Milwaukee. It was supposed to be a night of celebration at Lounge 340, marking one year in business in Milwaukee's Halyard Park neighborhood.

"We're all lost," said Antonio Brown, co-owner of Lounge 340 and the brother-in-law of the man who was killed. "It's senseless. If he was a guy that was a troublemaker, it would be something we would expect. We weren't expecting this. Sometimes people just snap. I guess that's the case right now."

Police were called for a report of a subject with a gun around 11 p.m. As officers were responding, the call was updated to a shots fired complaint. When the officers arrived, they observed a male armed with a firearm, according to a release from MPD.

Two officers confronted the individual and subsequently discharged their firearms, fatally wounding the man, Assistant Chief Michael Brunson said in a news conference overnight.

The MPD release said the man's firearm was recovered.

"Everybody's in shock," said Brown. "Never would think that this incident would be involving him, out of all people. This is a total shock."

Brown said he had stepped away from Lounge 340 and was a couple blocks away when he got a call saying he needed to come back because his brother-in-law had been shot.

"It was a domestic dispute, and he produced a weapon, and the officers came on scene, and he had the gun in his hand," said Brown.

Brown said he and his family were working to understand how a night that was supposed to be about celebration was punctuated by gunfire.

"It's all senseless," said Brown. "It don't make sense."

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A 27-year-old officer and a 23-year-old officer -- both with two years of service -- were placed on administrative leave, according to police.

The Waukesha Police Department was named the lead agency in this investigation, through the Milwaukee Area Investigative Team.