Bodycam footage of a June 12 fatal police shooting of a 22-year-old man on Milwaukee’s northwest side showed officers conversing with the man, before a tense altercation in an apartment stairwell ended in gunfire.
The four clips show the shooting of Jaylyn Brown, which police said was preceded by the man’s armed attempt to rob and threat to kill a person. The shooting took place at an apartment building on the 8500 block of West Kaul Avenue and occurred after about one hour of negotiations, according to police.
At various points in the clips, Brown can be heard yelling for officers to shoot him, officers calling for the man to drop his gun and an officer’s failed attempt to use a stun gun on the man.
The clips, each between 40 seconds and about 2 minutes long, depict the negotiation’s progression into fatal gunfire across about an hour.
An initial clip shows one officer speaking with Brown outside of an apartment, telling him he does not want to shoot him and Brown asking him for a cigarette. Brown then moves and enters a nearby apartment, as officers yell for him not to enter.
Another video shows officers’ entering the building and Brown’s call for officers to shoot him, following the officer’s use of stun grenades in a stairwell. One officer shouts Brown has a pistol and at least one officer fires at Brown but does not hit him.
The next clips show officers conversing with him as he’s inside the building. Brown and the officers speak about sports, and the officers toss him a water bottle and a pack of cigars. Brown moving to pick up the items is not seen on footage, but soon after that, officers unsuccessfully try to use a stun gun and other non-lethal methods.
A fourth video depicts a group of officers inside of a second-floor apartment overhearing the attempt to use a stun gun and other weapons on Brown.
“Shots fired,” an officer can be heard saying.
The officer yells for Brown to show his hands and can be seen on the footage firing at Brown seconds later. They tell again tell him to “show his hands,” before he responds he can’t move. Soon after, the officer says Brown is incapacitated and calls for other officers to come and call for medical help.
In one video, a gun can be seen lying on a stair near Brown.
Brown’s mother D’Lynn, who previously reviewed the footage, was critical of police’s actions. She described two rounds of gunshots occurring, with the latter drawing her scrutiny. She said it occurred while her son was already on the ground and injured.
The June 29 footage release does not show Jaylyn Brown’s position during the gunshots. It appears the first round of gunshots stemmed from officers’ attempt to use a stun gun and, according to a police news release, other non-lethal options like bean bag rounds.
The Milwaukee Area Investigative Team, a cross-agency group tasked with investigating police shootings in the Milwaukee area, is investigating the shooting. Waukesha Police Department is the lead agency on the investigation.
That investigation will ultimately be sent to the Milwaukee County District Attorney’s Office for review.
David Clarey is a public safety reporter at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. He can be reached at dclarey@usatoday.com.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Footage shows negotiations, tense standoff in Milwaukee police shooting
Reporting by David Clarey, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By David Clarey, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel | USA TODAY Network
