Milwaukee Officer Jerving shooting, bodycam video released
MILWAUKEE - The Milwaukee Police Department on Thursday, April 6 released body camera video related to the fatal shooting involving Officer Peter Jerving and robbery suspect Terrell Thompson.
The shooting happened near 14th and Cleveland around 1:15 a.m. on Feb. 7. Hours earlier, police said Jerving and his partner responded to a robbery near Teutonia and Good Hope where Thompson, 19, was identified as the suspect who stole a car and cellphone.
Through their investigation, police said Jerving and his partner received information that Thompson and the car were near 14th and Cleveland. The officers arrived and found the car and Thompson. The body camera footage shows officers call Thompson by his first name and tell him not to run. However, as seen on video, Thompson ran off around an apartment building. He later fell in the snow.
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Police said Thompson pulled out a gun and fired it multiple times at the officers. Jerving disengaged, drew his weapon and reported shots fired. When he returned to assist his partner, he and Thompson exchanged gunfire.
Both Jerving and Thompson sustained multiple gunshot wounds. Jerving died at a hospital, and Thompson died at the scene after receiving attention from first responders. No other injuries were reported.
Bodycam shows Terrell Thompson holding gun before shootout with Officer Peter Jerving
The Brookfield Police Department led the investigation with help from the Wisconsin Regional Crime Lab. The investigation found no other officers, including Jerving's partner, fired their weapons. Both Jerving and Thompson's weapons were recovered at the scene.
No officers were placed on administrative duty as a result of the shooting. The matter will still be referred to the Milwaukee County District Attorney's Office for review.
Officer Peter Jerving's service weapon
Terrell Thompson's firearm
Jerving's passion to serve
Jerving was a lifelong Milwaukee resident and decorated officer, honored by the police department in fall 2022 for saving someone's life in June.
MPD said Jerving received the award "for heroically providing lifesaving care to a shooting victim during extremely dangerous conditions." Officer Jerving grabbed a fire extinguisher and helped save a man in a burning vehicle who had been shot. He had four years of service with the police department and worked at Police District 4.
Jerving was roughly halfway through his studies for a bachelor's of science in criminal justice at Marian University when he was killed. One person who read what Jerving wrote for class called it a "plan for his community from the grave."
Alleged killer on probation
FOX6 News learned Thompson was in court on Feb. 6 – the day before the shootout – for a 2021 case and pleaded guilty to causing a hit-and-run.
Court records indicate Judge Christopher Dee ordered Thompson to serve 120 days in the Milwaukee County Community Reintegration Center, formerly the House of Correction, but stayed that sentence in favor of 12 months of probation. It means Thompson only had to serve time if he violated the conditions of his probation.
Terrell Thompson
The shootout that left both Jerving and Thompson dead happened more than two years after the 19-year-old blew a red light at Sherman and Bradley in Milwaukee and then ran away from the crash scene – a year-and-a-half after he hit two more cars in one night and ran away again.
During his sentencing, Thompson apologized and called the hit-and-run crashes a "life learning lesson." His lawyer acknowledged he was facing 120 days in jail, adding, "thankfully, the state's not asking for it." The judge told Thompson: "You got the benefit of a good bargain."
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Fourteen hours later, Milwaukee police say Jerving paid the price. Thompson barely made it 12 hours before police say he committed an armed robbery, and two hours after that, they say he was involved in the shootout with Jerving.
At the sentencing hearing, Thompson's attorney said he had a supportive mother, he was pursuing his GED, had a job painting cars with his cousin and even had a job interview scheduled for the day of the shootout. All of that played into the decision to release him on probation for a year.