By Joanna Putman
Police1
WINNEBAGO COUNTY, Wis. — The Winnebago County district attorney has released body and dash camera footage of an officer-involved shooting that occurred after a man told a dispatcher he would shoot at police, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported.
The Feb. 2 incident began when North Fond du Lac Police Sgt. Bryce LaLuzerne conducted a traffic stop, pulling over Lawrence M. Drennan, 36, for not having his taillights on, according to the report. Dash camera video shows that Drennan initially complied with the stop, pulling over and answering questions as the officer spoke to him.
When LaLuzerne asked Drennan to step out of the car, Drennan said he would not, shifted his car into drive and fled the stop. LaLuzerne then pursued Drennan, calling other officers into the pursuit as Drennan fled down a nearly empty freeway.
During the pursuit, Drennan called 911 and spoke with dispatchers.
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“If they stop me, I have a gun in here and I’m going to start shooting,” Drennan told the dispatcher. “If they stop me, I will shoot them all to death.”
The dispatcher spoke to Drennan, attempting to press him for information about the weapon he claimed to have in the vehicle and persuade him to comply with officers. Drennan gave the dispatcher his name but would not say what kind of weapon he had. When asked why he wanted to use the gun, Drennan replied that he would not go back to jail.
“If they have their guns drawn, [tell them to] get ready to fire to kill, because I’m going to fire to kill,” he said. Drennan hung up the phone shortly after giving the warning.
Drennan hung up on the dispatcher who called him back. Another attempt to reach him went to voicemail. He picked up the phone and asked if the dispatch center had “locked [his] phone” because he needed to call his daughter to say goodbye.
“Oh, they got me with spike strips,” Drennan tells the dispatcher. “Alright, here we go.”
Dash camera video then shows Drennan’s vehicle driving off the road and through a fence into an open field. Drennan can be seen exiting the vehicle and walking around it before starting to approach the officers and cruisers.
Drennan then walked back to the car and climbed inside again. Officers can be heard saying he was reaching around in the car. Drennan, still on the phone with a 911 dispatcher, can be heard shouting and screaming in frustration.
Video shows Drennan once again getting out of the vehicle and approaching officers. He continued to quickly approach despite officers’ instructions to stop. Officers fired two shots, bringing Drennan to the ground. He was pronounced dead at the scene. Autopsy results found his blood alcohol level was more than twice the legal limit, according to the report.