GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ) – Dallas is in mourning Friday after five officers were shot and killed in what’s being called the deadliest incident for U.S. law enforcement since 9/11.
The shooting began Thursday night as demonstrators protested the recent shooting deaths of African-Americans by police in Louisiana and Minnesota.
Reverberations from that shocking incident are being felt here in northeast Wisconsin.
“It’s a very sad day in law enforcement to think that these communities of people feel that it’s okay to go ahead and assassinate police officers for their cause,” says Capt. Jody Crocker with Ashwaubenon Public Safety. “As a department and in law enforcement as a whole, we all stand together in trying to do the right thing in trying to protect everyone no matter what.”
Appleton Police Chief Todd Thomas calls the massacre in Dallas “heart wrenching.”
“We just need to slow down and remember we’re all in this together,” Thomas told FOX 11.
Thomas said Friday that Wisconsin agencies are different from those in other parts of the country with their use of force techniques.
Green Bay Police Chief Andrew Smith and other officers wore black mourning bands over their badges Friday.
“It was like a gut punch,” Smith said. “We recognize that cops are going to make mistakes sometimes. When they make mistakes we need to hold them accountable, but I think that will go a long way towards hopefully making our future a little bit brighter.”
Smith reminds everyone that policing is not something you do to a community, it’s you do with a community.
U.S. SENATORS REACT
Wisconsin’s two U.S. Senators each offered their reactions to what happened in Dallas Thursday night.
“It’s depressing,” said Republican U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson before a roundtable discussion on veterans issues in Green Bay. “There’s a movement, there’s an element and there are political figures in this country that are stoking the fires of people that are actually putting targets on the back of men and women who serve this country trying to keep our streets safe. This has got to end.”
Johnson, who chairs the Senate’s Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee, declined to specify names of whom he was referring to.
Democratic U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin wrote in a tweet, “We must stand together and give voice to the peace and unity in our hearts.”
Johnson added that he wants to work on a path forward to heal our country.
“How many press release things I’ve had to send out where the opening line is: our thoughts and prayers are with the victims and their families,” Johnson said. “We have to end this. I don’t ever want to send another one of those things out, but I know I’ll have to.”
WISCONSIN TIES
A woman originally from Dodge County was among the police officers injured during Thursday’s sniper attack.
WISC-TV in Madison reported that 23-year-old Gretchen Rocha was among those hospitalized in the wake of the attack, after she was hit by shrapnel. Rocha, who used to live in Fox Lake, was released Friday morning.
Rocha earned an associate’s degree in criminal justice at Madison College. Madison Police say she was also an intern with the agency. She recently moved to North Texas to join the Dallas police force.
Police have identified the suspect in the shooting as 25-year-old Micah Johnson. Dallas Police say he reportedly told negotiators he was upset about recent police shootings and wanted to kill white officers. Johnson was killed by a bomb carried by a police robot, after negotiations broke down and officers feared he could not be taken safely.
(Additional reporting by Wisconsin Radio Network)
