The mother of a 22-year-old Milwaukee man shot and killed June 12 by police criticized officers after reviewing footage of the shooting that she said shows her son already injured from gunfire and lying on the ground before he was fatally shot in the chest.
D’Lynn Brown reviewed footage of her son Jaylyn J. Brown’s death with Milwaukee Police Department detectives on Tuesday, June 16, four days later. It was the second round of shots, fired when her son was already hit and lying on the ground, that drew her criticism, she told the Journal Sentinel after viewing the police footage.The footage has yet to be released publicly and D’Lynn’s account of the shooting could not be independently verified by the Journal Sentinel. Department policy requires the footage be released publicly within 15 days of a shooting.
The footage, a set of four brief clips that she said were redacted and blurred, show two instances of officers firing at her son inside of an apartment building.
In the second incident, D’Lynn said footage shows her son Jaylyn already struck in his arms and legs by the initial gunshots. At that point, he was lying on his back on the ground, and it’s implied Jaylyn has a gun in his hand, however she said the footage is blurred and she could not see the gun.
Officers shout, “he has a gun,” and an officer yells for him to drop it, D’Lynn said. She said the footage shows Jaylyn in pain and telling the officer he can’t move. The officer later shoots him in the chest, she said.
D’Lynn was uncertain how much time transpired between Jaylyn telling officer he couldn’t move and the fatal gunshots, due the video redactions.
D’Lynn could not determine any point where Jaylyn raised the gun toward officers, she said. Her son has long struggled with mental health and behavioral issues, she previously said.
“They assassinated my son,” she told the Journal Sentinel. “Milwaukee Police Department – they got to answer to me.”
A department spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment, citing the ongoing investigation being led by the Waukesha Police Department. That investigation will ultimately be sent to the Milwaukee County District Attorney’s Office for review.
Criminal charges being brought against police officers involved in shootings are rare. A criminal charge comes down to whether officers acted in a way that corresponds with what a reasonable officer would perceive as a threat.
The Milwaukee Police Department also automatically reviews all shootings to determine whether the agency’s code of conduct or policies were violated. If those were determined to be violated, it would trigger an Internal Affairs investigation, according to police policy.
Department policy dictates how officers use force. Officers are told to only use deadly force, or force that could cause great bodily harm, as a “last resort.” The policy also dictates the use of force must stop when the “subject is fully in the member’s control.”
A police official previously told local television station CBS58 that members of the department who handle negotiations like this aim to lower the emotions in a given situation, regardless of how long it took, and aim for a rational ending.
The shooting of Jaylyn took place on the 8500 block of West Kaul Avenue after he attempted an armed robbery, police said.
When officers arrived, Jaylyn held a gun to his head, told officers to shoot him and threatened them, Police Chief Jeffrey Norman said at a press conference the day of the shooting.
Officers heard a gunshot and later ordered him to drop his gun and fired at him several times, Norman said. No one was injured.
Jaylyn then ran into a nearby apartment building, where a lengthy standoff took place and police attempted to negotiate with him for about an hour. At one point, Jaylyn agreed to take a bottle of water and a cigar from officers. As he went to pick up the items, officers attempted to use a stun gun, but it was ineffective, Norman said.
Jaylyn then ran up the stairs and officers fired at him and shot him, Norman said. Three officers, ages 39, 46 and 41, were placed on administrative leave following the shooting.
D’Lynn said she was on the scene of the standoff for about 30 minutes and took issue with the police telling her to not reach out directly to her son and instead communicate through a negotiator. She believes she could have made a difference in the outcome.
D’Lynn is seeking what she describes as needed accountability after reviewing the footage.
“I’m looking for an attorney as we speak,” she said.
David Clarey is a public safety reporter at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. He can be reached at dclarey@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Mother of man shot and killed by police critical after seeing footage
Reporting by David Clarey, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
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By David Clarey, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel | USA TODAY Network
