GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ) — A gunman was shot and injured by Green Bay police Wednesday night, following a domestic disturbance on the city’s east side.
Officers responded to an apartment complex in the 700 block of Chapel View Road just before 11:15 p.m., where the suspect had fled. He soon returned to the area.
With police there, he drove away a second time. A little while later, the suspect went back toward the area. Police tried to stop him, but were unsuccessful.
The suspect reached the area and got out of the car armed with a handgun.
“Officers attempted to negotiate for quite awhile with the suspect. At one point, the suspect retrieved what looked like a beer from the trunk and drank that. At another point in this interaction, the suspect actually fired a round from a handgun into the air,” said Green Bay Police Chief Chris Davis.
The suspect got back into the car and left a third time.
“”In an effort to avoid escalating the situation, since he was leaving the area, officers chose not to pursue him,” Davis said. “You weigh that risk against that objective. It’s a judgment call, and it’s a very difficult one to make, often based on incomplete information under stressful circumstances with not a lot of time to make that decision.”
Davis points out that authorities knew who the suspect was by that point, and were confident he would be quickly located.
“Obviously, all of the on-duty police resources in the city at the time and then a whole lot of us came in from home. Probably most of the officers working in Brown County got involved in this. When I was at the scene, I saw officers from all over the county,” Davis said. “After a short time, the officers who were still on scene observed the suspect attempting to come back to the address in the same car. At this point, there are concerns that arise of the safety of the victim in the case.”
This time, when police tried to stop him, he led them on a chase followed toward the original location.
“We believe the suspect may have fired rounds from the vehicle at maybe one point during the pursuit. That’s one of the things we’re trying to clarify in the investigation. And then possibly again when the vehicle stopped,” Davis said. “Three officers discharged their firearms. The suspect exited the vehicle and surrendered shortly after this. The suspect was struck by gunfire.”
Officers gave him first aid at the scene. He was then taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. Davis said the gunman has had a history with police.
All three officers who pulled the trigger have been placed on paid administrative leave, which is standard procedure for a vast majority of agencies across the country.
Initial reports of the incident did not mention the involvement of law enforcement in the shooting itself, which Davis says was purposeful. He says the information he received even changed from the time he was called at home to the time he arrived on-scene.
“We always try to balance and put out as much information as we can while respecting the integrity of the investigative process, and not putting out information so early that it turns out that a lot of that information is inaccurate,” Davis said.
Police did locate a handgun in the suspect’s vehicle. Green Bay detectives are investigating the incident along with the Brown County Sheriff’s Office.
“We still have a number of people still to interview, including the involved officers,” Davis said. “We have a number of our officers still to interview, a whole lot of video evidence to sort through because obviously there’s body worn cameras, cameras on all of our patrol cars, and then we’ve gotten some video from community members.”
Davis was unable to confirm the condition of the victim in the case, citing the fact that he personally hadn’t spoken with the person. But he did offer support.
“Domestic violence is a serious issue in this community and everywhere. For anyone involved in a situation like that, we can help you,” Davis said.
No further updates on the investigation are expected until at least Monday.
WTAQ’s Casey Nelson contributed to this story.
Comments