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Dispatch audio: Moments after shooting Dontre Hamilton
Dispatch audio: Moments after shooting Dontre Hamilton
MILWAUKEE (WITI) -- With Monday's no-charging decision in the Dontre Hamilton case, piles of documents are being released. The Department of Justice handed over its documents. Included in the collection are audio files that allow you to hear for the first time, Officer Christopher Manney's voice.
On April 30th, Starbucks employees working out of a trailer called police, complaining about a homeless man who was sleeping in Red Arrow Park. Here's the voice mail then-Officer Christopher Manney received before heading over to Red Arrow Park.
When Manney didn't know at the time was two other officers had already been to Red Arrow Park that day -- and they decided Hamilton wasn't hurting anyone. They let him be.
When Manney arrived, an altercation ensued and Officer Manney ended up shooting Hamilton 14 times. In the heat of the moment, after the rounds had been fired, he placed a call for help.
Dozens of officers arrived on the scene. The exchange between police dispatch and Manney continued:
A national use-of-force expert who reviewed the case quoted Manney as saying that Hamilton "didn't flinch" after the first bullet.
That caused Manney to ask himself, "Am I shooting a f---ing BB gun?" because the shots weren't stopping Hamilton as quickly as he thought they should.
The expert writes that Manney may have experienced a 'distortion of time' that is typical of officers in high stress situations.
Among the records released today, is a Milwaukee police report from February of 2013, when officers were called to an apartment near 27th and Roosevelt.
Dontre Hamilton had stabbed himself in the neck. He told police he was diagnosed schizophrenic and that, 'the voices told me to kill myself and you people too'.
That was 14 months before the encounter in Red Arrow Park.