Videos that surfaced over weekend give view of the Milwaukee police shootings
Two videos that surfaced over the weekend are shedding light on the events that transpired before, during and after separate police-involved shootings that left two people wounded on Milwaukee’s south side Friday night.
Large crowds had gathered in the 1200 block of South Cesar Chavez Drive late on Cinco de Mayo.
A video taken before the shootings shows hectic scenes in which fights are taking place, objects are being thrown and officers are working to disperse crowds. A different video captures the chaos of multiple guns being shot, crowds fleeing the scene and the moment when an officer shoots a man repeatedly.
Warning: both videos in the attached links below on Twitter and Facebook contain explicit language and violent behavior.
Video shows officers trying to break up a fight
A video posted on Twitter and taken before shots are fired shows a crowd gathered around three women who are fighting each other.
As the fight grows more violent, multiple police officers enter the crowd to break up the altercation. Officers can be seen pulling the women from each other as objects are being thrown. No shots are heard or seen in this video.
Milwaukee Police Chief Jeffrey Norman said early Saturday that several officers were sent to the area "due to a large crowd that was engaged in reckless behavior."
Norman said a short time later several individuals started firing what he called "celebratory" gunshots.
Facebook video captures man being shot by a police officer
One of the videos, posted on Facebook, is filmed on a phone and shows a group of people running from the scene as shots are fired. A series of rapid shots are heard at the beginning of the video, but the source of those shots is never shown.
As the video progresses, less rapid shots are heard before the video captures a police officer repeatedly shooting at a man who is lying on the ground 10-20 feet in front of him.
In the video, a woman can be heard screaming “Oh my god they killed Deion” as a group of people pleads with the officer to stop shooting. Shortly after this, a handful of officers start to surround the man on the ground and ask the crowd to disperse.
Norman said Saturday that one man suffered non-life-threatening injuries while the other suffered serious injuries but had stabilized by early Saturday. He said in both cases, officers gave the men several commands to drop their guns.
Wisconsin state representative speaks on new video
In a Twitter thread, Republican State Rep. Bob Donovan, who represents a suburban area in the Assembly but used to represent parts of Milwaukee's south side on the Common Council, used the incident to criticize police staffing levels that have become part of the debate over a shared revenue bill in the Legislature.
He said any notion that Milwaukee doesn't need more police officers was "simply nonsensical."
He said in his tweet that because of the incident the Milwaukee Police Department had to dispatch all of its police officers to the scene. That could not be confirmed Sunday.
“This resulted in the rest of the city being left unprotected. This total chaos, everyday homicides, and general disorder give a glimpse of what Milwaukee is becoming,” he said.
Police bodycam footage has still not been released, but could be coming soon
Last month, Milwaukee’s police oversight board approved the new policy that requires the release of footage of fatal police shootings and other similar incidents within 15 days.
Milwaukee Police Chief Jeffrey Norman said video from both incidents "will be released according to the new policy."
Both officers were placed on administrative leave, which is routine in officer-involved shootings, police said.
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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: New videos detail moments before, after police shooting in Milwaukee
