Wisconsin fatal police shootings, Germantown latest of 5 this month

GERMANTOWN, Wis. - Wisconsin law enforcement officers have shot and killed someone who first threatened them five times this month.

The Wisconsin Department of Justice said the shooting latest shooting, which happened Monday outside Germantown's Kennedy Middle School, started with a man firing at police and ended with officers firing back – killing the man.

"It's something that an officer never wants to have to deal with or go through in their whole career," said Andrew Wagner, president of the Milwaukee Police Association.

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Yet shootings like Monday's have become increasingly common in Wisconsin. So far in October, police have shot and killed someone five times. In each case, authorities said someone threatened, shot at them or pulled a weapon first. 

The Wisconsin Professional Police Association said it has happened 28 times so far this year. For comparison, there were 14 officer-involved shootings in the state at this point in 2022.

Locations of October 2023 Wisconsin law enforcement-involved fatal shootings

"I think that's a lot," Wagner said. "I'm sure that it was brought up at the roll calls to make sure, you know, that you're just being vigilant out there and being careful on your shifts."

Wagner said the increase is drawing the attention of law enforcement agencies around the state, but added effort to bring down those statistics may rely on stronger prosecution.

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"Their will to get away or will to fight with the police is stronger than what they believe the consequences will be later on," he said.

To be clear, Wisconsin DOJ investigators have not released much information about the man shot and killed Monday other than that he was not from the area. FOX6 asked investigators for an update Wednesday, but did not immediately hear back.