By Jake Offenhartz
Associated Press
MILWAUKEE, Wis. — Ohio police officers in Wisconsin for the Republican National Convention shot and killed a man who was wielding two knives near the convention, Milwaukee’s police chief said Tuesday.
Five members of the Columbus, Ohio, police department fired on the man, who had a knife in each hand, refused police commands and charged at an unarmed man before police fired, Milwaukee Chief Jeffrey Norman said at a news conference. Two knives were recovered from the scene, the chief said.
Police released body camera footage that showed officers on bikes talking before one of them says, “He’s got a knife.”
Click below to see full video.
Several officers then yell “Drop the knife!” as they run toward two men standing in a street. When the armed man moved toward the unarmed man, police fired their weapons.
“Someone’s life was in danger,” Norman said. “These officers, who were not from this area, took it upon themselves to act and save someone’s life today.”
Thousands of officers from multiple jurisdictions are in Milwaukee providing additional security for the convention that began Monday and concludes Thursday.
The Columbus Division of Police, as well as the chief of staff for Milwaukee’s mayor and a spokesperson for the convention’s joint command center, all said there was nothing to suggest the shooting was related to the convention itself.
A cousin and others identified the man killed as 43-year-old Samuel Sharpe.
Norman, the Milwaukee chief, said 13 officers who were part of a bicycle patrol from Columbus were within their assigned zone having a meeting when they saw the altercation.
“The officers observed a subject armed with a knife in each hand, engaged in an altercation with another unarmed individual,” Norman said. They only fired after the armed man ignored multiple commands and moved toward the unarmed man, the chief said.
“This is a situation where somebody’s life was in immediate danger,” Norman said.
The Columbus Division of Police has received attention because of its special unit deployed to Milwaukee that works to improve police-community relationships and had a visible role in guiding the largely uneventful protests on Monday.
The shooting happened near King Park, roughly a mile from the convention center, where a small group of protesters gathered before marching on Monday. That demonstration was followed by dozens of Columbus police officers, wearing blue vests that read: “Columbus Police Dialogue.”
The Milwaukee County Medical Examiner’s Office said an autopsy was scheduled for Wednesday.
