Wauwatosa officers get immunity in 2016 fatal shooting probe

MILWAUKEE - A Milwaukee County judge has granted immunity to three suburban police officers ahead of an interview with special prosecutors as they review the 2016 fatal police shooting of a man in a Wauwatosa park.

Judge Glenn Yamahiro signed the order on Tuesday, Jan. 4, following a request on Monday by La Crosse County District Attorney Tim Gruenke as he sought to interview Wauwatosa Officers Ralph Salyers, Stephen Mills, and Capt. Gary Gabrish. An attorney for the officers asked for a promise of immunity from a judge "out of an abundance of caution," according to court filings.

"Although it may be unorthodox because neither of the officers are seen as suspects in any crime, and our interviews would not likely reveal any criminal activity, I agreed to request such a guarantee from the court so we can interview them about their involvement in this matter without any hesitations," Gruenke wrote in the request.

Mills and Salyers were the first two officers to arrive at Madison Park after 25-year-old Jay Anderson Jr. was shot while seated in a parked car by then-Wauwatosa Officer Joseph Mensah during the early morning hours of June 23, 2016. Gabrish, who was then a lieutenant, was the commanding officer at the scene.

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Mensah was cleared by the Milwaukee County District Attorney’s Office in the fatal shooting. But the family successfully petitioned the court to review the case, and Yamahiro found probable cause that Mensah committed homicide by negligent use of a dangerous weapon. 

In Yamahiro’s ruling last summer, he noted there were a number of alternatives Mensah could have chosen, poor tactical decisions were made, and the record indicated Anderson never lunged for a weapon, as Mensah said.

While Yamahiro found probable cause, Mensah has not been charged with a crime. That is up to special prosecutors Gruenke and Milwaukee civil litigator Scott Hansen, who were appointed by Yamahiro last month.

At the time of Anderson’s death, it was the second fatal shooting involving Mensah in less than a year. In July 2015, Mensah shot and killed 29-year-old Antonio Gonzales after police said Gonzales refused to drop a sword.

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Mensah was cleared in that case, as well as the Feb. 2020 shooting of 17-year-old Alvin Cole in a Mayfair Mall parking lot.

Mensah resigned from the Wauwatosa Police Department in November 2020 after collecting a severance payment. He was later hired as a Waukesha County sheriff's deputy.