The man Milwaukee police shot and killed on March 12 has been identified as Jonathan Otto.
A Milwaukee police officer shot and killed Otto on the city’s south side, after Otto fled officers attempting to stop him for a parole violation, according to Milwaukee Police Chief Jeffrey Norman. Authorities say Otto, 35, fled from officers in a tow truck, with a 46-year-old officer hanging on to it for blocks before he fired his gun at Otto.
“This was a totally avoidable incident,” Norman said at a March 12 news conference. “There was a responsibility to cooperate.”
Inside the tow truck was Otto’s fiancée, Emily Hernandez, who in an interview with the Journal Sentinel was critical of the officer’s actions.
Hernandez said she told Otto to stop the truck and for the officer to get down, but was disregarded. The entire incident took place across about four minutes and started after Otto became scared when the officer told him to get out, she told the Journal Sentinel.
Hernandez said the officer refused to listen to her and Otto continued to flee. However, she said on two occasions Otto slowed for the officer to get off but did not do so. Then, the officer pulled out his gun and told Otto he would shoot him and, soon after, fired the gun at him.
Now, Hernandez is left with questions for the police and the officer: Why didn’t he use a taser? Did he have to shoot to kill? Why didn’t he get off the tow truck?
“I want the world to know about [Otto], because what they’re doing is wrong,” she said.
Otto’s younger sister, Layna Broyld, told the Journal Sentinel in a message that he was a “good big brother” and referred to him as Jay.
“He was loved by his entire family. He gave love so freely to anyone in his presence. He ended every phone call with ‘okay love you sister,'” she wrote. “He said every goodbye with a bear hug. He loved hard. He cared about all of us.”
Witnesses described seeing the truck speed through intersections before the shooting, and the pursuit ended near South 15th Street and West Grant Street. Hernandez disputed that, saying the tow truck never reached high speeds.
Online court records show Otto had previously pleaded guilty in 2022 to fleeing police. That history should’ve been a factor in how events played out, Hernandez said. She believed it should have led the officer to return to the house at a later time.
“He wasn’t wanted for murder,” she said. “He just violated his parole.”
Otto’s family started a GoFundMe to help pay for funeral arrangements. It had raised over $3,900 as of late afternoon March 13.
“He didn’t deserve to die the way he did and the people saying such nasty hateful things about him are vile humans,” Broyld wrote.
Police shootings are automatically reviewed by the Milwaukee Area Investigative Team, a collection of local police agencies that investigate officer shootings. The West Allis Police Department is the lead investigative agency in this incident and Milwaukee Police Department policy dictates video of all officer shootings is released within 15 days.
Hernandez said she had been interviewed by the investigating officers but has no confidence in the investigation. She intends to pursue retaining a lawyer, she said.
A police spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment on remarks made by Hernandez.
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: Victim in Milwaukee police shooting identified, fiancée in truck speaks out
Reporting by David Clarey, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
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