Milwaukee DA decides police officers were justified in fatal shooting of armed man outside gas station
Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm has decided not to criminally charge three police officers who fatally shot an armed man outside a gas station in August.
The three Milwaukee police officers were justified in shooting Broderick "Baldie" Shelton Jr. Aug. 16 outside a gas station in the 2500 block of North 27th Street, Chisholm said in a letter Friday to Police Chief Jeffrey Norman.
Shelton’s family has said he suffered from mental health issues and he was well-known around the neighborhood for spending time outside that gas station. According to a community activist, Shelton was generally regarded as a friendly person and not known to carry a gun.
According to Chisholm's report, Shelton took a semi-automatic pistol from a gas station patron and was pointing it at people. When officers arrived and ordered him to drop it, he also pointed the gun at them and at another patron at a gas pump.
What resulted was a shootout between police and Shelton, with 50 rounds fired between them. According to the district attorney, Shelton shot 16 rounds at officers — the entire magazine.
"I find the use of force by the officers to be reasonable under all the circumstances and consistent with their affirmative obligation to protect the lives of endangered citizens as well as their own lives in the performance of their duty," Chisholm said in the letter.
More: Milwaukee police release limited camera footage of two fatal police shootings from August
According to the report:
A resident called police to report Shelton had taken the gun "off my hip" and was pointing it at people.
Shelton was standing with his back to the entrance of the convenience store with the gun in his hand when the three officers arrived on bicycles. The officers were Joshua Heder, Ryan Miller and David Bui.
According to body-camera video, the officers shouted multiple commands to drop the gun.
Heder said he saw Shelton point the gun at a patron who had gotten into his car at the pump. The patron then crawled out of his car, and Heder shouted for Shelton to drop the gun.
Heder said Shelton lowered the gun for a moment but lifted it again and pointed it at the two other officers, Miller and Bui, while laughing.
Heder said that then it seemed that Shelton was focusing on Miller and "appeared to now be ‘taking aim at a target,’ ” the report said.
Bui said he saw Shelton point the gun directly at him, then he heard several shots. He said he was not sure who fired first. Bui peeked out from where he had taken cover and saw Shelton was still standing and holding the gun, so he fired as well.
"When asked why he fired Officer Bui stated that the subject had already pointed the gun at him and was not complying with commands to drop the gun. Officer Bui also believed that subject had already shot at him or his partners," Chisholm's report reads.
Bui said Shelton continued firing in his direction. He said at one point he thought he was struck, but he was not.
From his location, Heder said he saw Bui check for injuries and believed his partner had been shot.
Heder moved closer to Shelton because he "knew the shooting incident was going on too long" and he noticed Shelton move into a crouching or sitting position.
From that position, Heder said he saw Shelton fire a several more shots at Bui and Miller. As Heder approached, one of the other two officers struck Shelton in the head, and he dropped the gun.
According to investigators, Heder fired three shots, Bui fired seven and Miller fired 24.
"Officer Miller believed Shelton intended to try and kill him or one of his fellow officers. Officer Miller believed he had no choice but to fire his weapon to stop Shelton and as he did so he saw the muzzle flash from Shelton’s gun indicating Shelton was firing his gun at Officer Miller," the report said.
Shelton suffered three gunshot wounds: to the head, abdomen and elbow.
In addition to the patron by the gas pumps, two people were inside the gas station at the time of the shooting, the report said.
Chisholm said the evidence and footage "show a highly trained and appropriately restrained response from all three officers."
He argued that the officers' actions were appropriate under use-of-force laws, which allow for deadly force when the officer believes it is necessary to prevent great bodily harm or death.
"Mr. Shelton has a history of mental illness and there is little doubt that contributed to his behavior, but tragically there is nothing about this encounter that lends itself to a belief that de-escalation was possible or appropriate under the circumstances," Chisholm wrote.
Shelton was one of three people killed by police in Milwaukee in a short time span in August.
According to Kent Lovern, deputy district attorney, the District Attorney's office has not reached decisions yet for the other two police shootings that happened soon after Shelton's death, Tyran C. Lamb on Aug. 22; and Earl D. Lawhorn on Aug. 26.
Contact Sophie Carson at (414) 223-5512 or scarson@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter at @SCarson_News.
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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Milwaukee police shooting of armed man ruled justified by Chisholm
