MILWAUKEE COUNTY (WITI) -- Charges have been dropped against a man accused of firing shots -- one that shattered a window at the Harley-Davidson facility near 34th and Juneau.
A jury trial was supposed to begin on Monday, December 1st for 25-year-old Thomas Dright-Jackson. Instead, the state moved to dismiss the charges filed against Dright-Jackson, and there was no objection to that motion.
Dright-Jackson faced two charges in the case: first-degree recklessly endangering safety and endangering safety/reckless use of a firearm.
On May 22nd, 2014, MPD officers were dispatched to the 3400 block of W. Juneau Avenue for a report of shots fired.
Upon their arrival at the scene, police recovered numerous spent casings, and discovered numerous buildings were struck by bullets — one of which was the Harley-Davidson Corporation at 3700 W. Juneau Ave.
Officers spoke with a Harley employee, who told them he was in a conference room on the third floor of the building with another employee and an out-of-town job candidate whom he was interviewing.
That employee told police that roughly 30-40 minutes into the interview, he heard 10-15 quick “pops” — that he thought were fireworks.
The Harley employee told police he later heard a window in the conference room shatter — and that’s when he realized the “pops” were gunshots.
A criminal complaint against Dright-Jackson says the Harley employee and the other two individuals in the room hit the floor — and had to “army crawl” out of the room.
The complaint says Harley-Davidson was then placed on lockdown.
The complaint against Dright-Jackson says an adult citizen witness told police she called 911 after seeing a black man standing in the middle of Juneau Avenue near the McDonald’s restaurant — pointing a black handgun and firing seven to 10 shots westbound.
Another witness told police he was outside his home near 34th and Juneau when he heard the sound of gunfire — and saw a man standing in the street firing shots, according to the complaint.
The complaint says while officers were on scene near the Harley-Davidson facility, a woman walked into MPD District Three to report she had been shot at.
The woman told police she received a phone call from her father — stating that he had locked himself out of his home near 34th and Juneau. The woman went to her father’s house so she could let him in — parking in front of his home.
The complaint says the woman told police as she walked up to her father’s home, she observed her ex-boyfriend, Dright-Jackson walking towards her from a vehicle in the McDonald’s parking lot.
The complaint says the woman told police she was afraid of Dright-Jackson because he had hit her in the past, and they had only recently broken up.
The complaint says the woman ran into her father’s home and slammed the door.
One minute later, the woman told police she heard pounding on her father’s front door, and assumed it was Dright-Jackson. The complaint says the woman didn’t answer the door — but waited until the pounding stopped and then waited 10-20 minutes before leaving the house.
The complaint says as the woman was walking to her vehicle, she heard Dright-Jackson yell at her. The woman told police she turned and saw Dright-Jackson running up the street towards her — pointing a semi-automatic pistol at her and firing in her direction.
The complaint says she quickly entered her vehicle and sped off. The woman told police she could hear the vehicle being hit by bullets.
Police observed multiple bullet holes on the vehicle.
The complaint says police called Dright-Jackson, who agreed to meet at his mother’s home on W. Juneau Avenue. Officers responded to that location, and took Dright-Jackson into custody.
Police spoke with Dright-Jackson, and according to the complaint, he told them he was at home all day with his mother on May 22nd, and denied being part of any shooting.