Police shoot, kill armed suspect at downtown transit center
MILWAUKEE (WITI) -- Milwaukee police officers shot and killed a suspect armed with a semi-automatic handgun at the Milwaukee County Transit Center shortly before 8 a.m. on Monday, November 11th. The suspect died at the scene.
According to police, the incident began around 7 a.m. when the suspect approached a 56-year-old man in a car, pulled a gun and attempted to enter his vehicle through the locked, passenger door near the corner of Lincoln Memorial Dr. and E. Michigan.
Police say when the 56-year-old man drove away from the scene, the suspect fired his weapon at the vehicle. Following the incident, the 56-year-old man drove around the corner and called 911. He then circled the block to determine where the suspect went.
Venus Tostevin watched from her parking post as the incident unfolded.
"I'm not sure how good a glass box is going to do me but I made sure to come inside so I wasn't right out in the open," Tostevin said.
After police arrived on the scene, they spoke with the man in the car. That person gave officers a good description of the suspect.
A short time later, officers located the armed suspect on the second floor of the transit center.
"The officers confronted him and made numerous demands for him to drop the weapon and attempted to negotiate with him. It was at this time the suspect engaged in threatening behavior with that pistol," said Milwaukee Police Chief Ed Flynn.
Chief Flynn said that's when three officers fired upon the man. Following the shooting, officers began life-saving measures. However, the suspect was pronounced dead at the scene.
Three Milwaukee police officers were involved in the altercation. They are all from MPD's District 1. One of the officers is a 35-year-old man with 16 years of experience. The second is a 37-year-old man with 11 years on the force. The third officer is a 41-year-old man with 21 years of experience.They have all been placed on administrative duty pending the investigation.
MPD says this is the 10th officer-involved shooting this year -- and four have proven fatal.
"I've never seen anything like this down here. I don't know what to expect anymore," Tostevin said.
"There is nothing remotely like this, to attempt to take someone's car in broad daylight at 7 o'clock in the morning," Chief Flynn said.
Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett was surprised to get the news of the violence in the downtown area.
"It is almost unprecedented or may be unprecedented to have something like this happen. It's such a rare occurrence," said Barrett.
Monitor FOX6 News and FOX6Now.com for updates on this developing story.