Milwaukee police released body camera footage showing officers shouting for a 38-year-old man to drop a gun before shooting him after he ran from them on Feb. 3.
The 30 seconds of footage depicts officers shouting “drop the gun” at a fleeing Joshua John Wippert. One officer fires a single gunshot, before the man appears to turn toward the officer and drops his gun fractions of a second before officers fire multiple times at him.
The footage is grainy and it is difficult to determine Wippert’s action as the first gunshot can be heard on the footage. The following gunshots occurred less than two seconds later.
The shooting followed a police chase after Wippert and his passenger fled a traffic stop for a registration violation, Milwaukee police previously said.
WISN-12 reported the shooting took place at Wippert’s mother’s home. At one point, seconds before Wippert was shot, an officer runs past a woman who can be heard saying “no,” and Wippert is shot at the front door of the mother’s home.
“Stay down,” officers can be heard shouting following the shooting. Someone opens the front door of the house as the footage ends.
The footage shows three officers pointing handguns at Wippert – two are visible on the footage with the third officer’s bodycam footage being showed. Police said two officers fired their guns at the man, but it’s not clear which two shot based on the footage.
The two who fired, a 46-year-old man with over 10 years of service and a 40-year-old man with over 8 years of service, were placed on administrative duty following the shooting, police said.
Wippert’s shooting followed officers’ attempt to pull him and a 35-year-old man over near the intersection of West Fond du Lac Avenue and West Lotus Street. Wippert initially pulled over, before fleeing, Police Chief Jeffrey Norman said at a press conference following the shooting.
A pursuit followed, with a passenger in the car exiting, and Wippert then fleeing on foot on the 9800 block of West Lisbon Avenue, Norman said. The passenger was later arrested, but did not face charges, a police spokesperson said on Feb. 18.
Wippert was taken to the hospital, where he later died, police said.
The Milwaukee Area Investigative Team, a collection of local police agencies that investigate police shootings, is leading the investigation into Wippert’s shooting. The Brookfield Police Department is the lead investigative agency in the shooting.
David Clarey is a public safety reporter at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. He can be reached at dclarey@gannett.com.
This story was updated to add new information.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Milwaukee police release footage of officers shooting man following chase
Reporting by David Clarey, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
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