Sheriff Clarke wants answers in Children's Hospital incident
WAUWATOSA (WITI) -- Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke says he wants a definitive account of what happened last Thursday, November 14th at Children's Hospital -- and he has announced how he plans to get that information.
A 22-year-old man with a gun was shot and wounded near the neonatal progressive care unit of Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin in Wauwatosa around noon on Thursday, November 14th. The suspect is identified as Ashanti Dickerson-Hendricks.
At 11:59 a.m., Milwaukee Police received a call from a woman stating there was a suspect, likely armed, at Children’s Hospital. The caller also reported that the armed suspect likely had felony warrants. As a result of this call, officials say officers from District 3 were dispatched to the hospital. The responding officers confirmed the armed suspect’s felony warrant status while en route, and printed his picture from their in-squad computer.
Upon arrival at the hospital, officials say the officers responded to the suspect’s room in the neonatal unit and found the suspect holding a baby. The officers engaged the suspect in dialogue in an attempt to determine whether he was in fact armed.
Investigators say shortly after the initial contact by police was made, the suspect released the baby and attempted to flee. After a brief physical struggle with officers, the suspect produced a .40 caliber semiautomatic pistol from his pants, broke away from the officers and ran through the neonatal ward. Milwaukee Police officers pursued the armed suspect, who pointed his pistol at officers as they contained him in an empty hallway.
Officials say the suspect’s threatening behavior forced officers to take action to protect themselves and innocent bystanders. One officer fired two rounds at the suspect, striking him in the arm and causing him to drop his gun. He was immediately treated for his non-life-threatening injuries.
The “all clear” at the hospital was issued shortly after 2 p.m.
Sheriff Clarke says the shooting at Children's Hospital demonstrated a breakdown in law enforcement communications, and says he wants to find out why to make sure it doesn't happen again.
"I`ve heard three different responses as to the nature of the original call. Three things could not have happened. Only one thing happened. So I want to get...what are the facts?" Sheriff Clarke said Monday, November 18th.
Sheriff Clarke says he isn't questioning what happened from the point the suspect was shot. It's what happened before that that he says, bothers him.
"I just think that a full accounting needs to be made, which is why I ordered an after-action critique so we can from start to finish (figure out) -- what happened. That`s all. This isn`t any attempt to indict or accuse something happened here," Sheriff Clarke said.
Sheriff Clarke says one problem is a breakdown in communication.
"I had officers stationed out there that were not made aware of whatever the nature of this call was," Sheriff Clarke said.
Sheriff Clarke says Wauwatosa police, hospital security and administrators were not in the loop either.
"That is problematic. When you don`t have good information sharing going on at every stage of the incident, you`re asking for disaster," Sheriff Clarke said.
Sheriff Clarke says when the information came, it was wrong. It said there was an active shooter instead of "officers need backup, shots fired." The two calls are treated differently.
"We`re going to discuss with the other agencies about what did you have, what did you know? We need a more consistent understanding of how these things should be responded to in the future," Sheriff Clarke said.
No one (with the exception of the suspect -- and an officer who suffered a shoulder injury) was injured in Thursday's incident at Children's Hospital.
Sheriff Clarke says his commanders should compete the after-action critique within 60 days.
On the day of the shooting, Milwaukee Police Chief Ed Flynn said his department would be conducting an investigation and debriefs on how the situation was handled.