MILWAUKEE — Police officers from Columbus, Ohio, were involved in a shooting near the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, according to the Fraternal Order of Police and Columbus Division of Police.
The shooting occurred Tuesday at about 1:10 p.m. near Vliet and 14th streets, about one mile from the Fiserv Forum, which is hosting the convention. Columbus police officers are in the city to help Milwaukee Police Department officers with RNC security. While outside of the RNC perimeter, the shooting took place within the operational zone where officers were assigned, Columbus police said.
MPD officials said 13 uniformed Columbus Division of Police officers from Ohio were in their assigned zone. The officers were on bicycle patrol and were briefing with their supervision at the time of the shooting.
The officers saw a man with two knives, one in each hand. They said he was "engaged in an altercation" with another person, who they said was unarmed.
MPD said the officers identified themselves as police and told the armed man to drop his knives. According to MPD, the suspect did not comply. MPD said the person "charged at the other individual with the knives."
Five Ohio police officers then shot the armed suspect.
"This is a situation where somebody's life was in immediate danger... These officers, who are not from this area, took [it] upon themselves to act to save someone's life today," MPD Chief Jeffrey Norman said.
Norman said officers were wearing activated body cameras.
The Milwaukee County Medical Examiner’s Office confirmed the 43-year-old Milwaukee man died at the scene. MPD sources said the man was experiencing homelessness and suffered from schizophrenia. An autopsy is scheduled for Wednesday.
No one else was injured.
Police said two knives were recovered from the scene.
Columbus officials said the incident does not appear to be related to the RNC. The Milwaukee Area Investigative Team (MAIT) is conducting an ongoing investigation, and the Greenfield Police Department will lead the investigation.
Norman said the officers involved are with MAIT and are cooperating.
MPD on Wednesday in a statement said that the CPD officers that were involved in the incident would not continue to work the RNC in Milwaukee. The department also made a change to its outside police agency protocals, saying that going forward, an MPD officer will be assigned to not just the forward-facing roles at the convention but also the specialty units, such as the bicycles.
Milwaukee residents quickly came to the site of the shooting, many angry that a police department in town because of the convention was involved. Dozens of police officers were also on the scene.
Kenneth Johnson, a volunteer with Friends Without Shelter, said the area is well known among locals for its homeless population that sleep in tents in a nearby lot and questioned what an out-of-state officer had been doing at the location.
“They shouldn’t have jurisdiction to be in this area," Johnson said. "This isn’t near where the zones are. These are tent communities over here; they shouldn’t be over here.”
David Porter, who said he knew the man and is also homeless, was angry that officers from outside of Milwaukee were in his neighborhood.
“If MPD would have been there, that man would still be alive right now,” Porter said, referring to Milwaukee police.
The Columbus Police Department has received attention for its special unit deployed to Milwaukee that works to improve police-community relationships and had a visible role in guiding Monday's largely uneventful protests.
The shooting happened near King Park, roughly a mile from the convention center, where a small group of protesters gathered before marching on Monday. That demonstration was followed by dozens of Columbus police officers, wearing blue vests that read: “Columbus Police Dialogue.”
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