A 35-year-old was shot and killed Thursday morning, March 12, by a Milwaukee police officer following a police pursuit in connection to a parole violation.
“This was a totally avoidable incident,” said a frustrated Police Chief Jeffrey Norman at a Thursday afternoon news conference. “There was a responsibility to cooperate.”
The routine interaction abruptly turned into a police pursuit with a 46-year-old officer clinging to the side of a tow truck driven by the shooting victim for several blocks, Norman said. A Milwaukee police squad car followed the truck.
The pursuit ended when the officer, who has 21 years of experience, shot the driver.
Luis Pizarro was picking up a friend on West Becher Street just before 10 a.m. near St. Hyacinth church when a tow truck sped past, nearly hitting him.
Pizarro witnessed the police officer hanging onto the driver’s side door and a police vehicle following close behind.
Pizarro followed the vehicle down South 15th street to West Grant Street and saw the driver of the truck had been shot. An officer was attempting to administer CPR to the victim as a woman in the truck argued with the police.
“I did not think he was going to end up like that,” Pizarro said.
The Milwaukee Fire Department received a call Thursday morning about a shooting near West Grant and South 15th streets, said Deputy Chief Travis Jones. Three people, including the officer, were transported to the hospital.
Ramiro Gonzalez, who owns a nearby business, said he noticed police begin arriving around 10 a.m. He didn’t see what occurred.“I came outside. … I see cops coming everywhere,” Gonzalez said.
The West Allis Police Department is the lead investigative agency in the shooting.
Before the March 12 shooting, the last shooting involving Milwaukee police officers happened Feb. 3.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Milwaukee police shoot, kill man, 35, following parole violation, pursuit
Reporting by David Clarey, Steven Martinez and Alyssa N. Salcedo, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
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