Appleton police officers won't be charged in Aug. 12 shooting death of Appleton man
APPLETON – Two Appleton police officers who fatally shot an Appleton man during a welfare check Aug. 12 won't be charged in the death, the Outagamie County District Attorney's Office announced Tuesday.
Outagamie County District Attorney Melinda Tempelis said that, after reviewing the investigation conducted by the Wisconsin Department of Justice's Division of Criminal Investigation, the shooting by officers Bryce Rudebeck and Anthony Shuman was justified.
Around 7:22 p.m. Aug. 12, Appleton police responded to a call for a welfare check at a residence in the 1500 block of North Birchwood Avenue. Over the next 30 to 40 minutes, officers attempted to negotiate with 33-year-old Daniel Pesavento, who had a handgun and was in the garage and driveway of the residence. According to his wife — who was able to leave the residence with their child when police arrived — Pesavento had fired a shot when he was inside the garage, with the door closed.
According to the district attorney’s office, officers Bryce Rudebeck and Anthony Shuman reasonably believed officers and nearby civilians were in danger when Pesavento walked from the opened-door garage of the residence to the end of the driveway, within 40 yards of them and repeatedly moved his gun in the direction of officers. Also, Pesavento refused to comply to officers' demands to drop his gun and took a shooting stance toward them.
“Both officers feared for their lives, the lives of other officers and the public’s causing them both to fire their weapons," Tempelis said in a letter to the DCI announcing her decision. "It was also reasonable for Officer Rudebeck and Officer Shuman to believe Mr. Pesavento had the intent and the means to inflict death or great bodily harm to Officer Rudebeck and Officer Shuman and other officers and citizens in the area and that the force used was necessary to prevent imminent death or great bodily harm to themselves or others."
Rudebeck and Shuman, who each have five years' experience as police officers, had been placed on administrative leave, per Appleton Police Department policy. They'll return to duty immediately, the department said.
“This type of incident is one of the most dangerous and unpredictable calls that a police officer responds to, a person who is in a mental health crisis, who has a firearm and has demonstrated that they are willing to use it,” Appleton Police Chief Todd Thomas said in a statement. “I want to thank all the officers who were present who did everything they possibly could to peacefully resolve this incident.”
RELATED: Man shot, killed by Appleton police identified; officers involved in shooting named
Contact Kelli Arseneau at (920) 213-3721 or karseneau@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter at @ArseneauKelli.
This article originally appeared on Appleton Post-Crescent: Appleton police officers won't be charged in shooting death
