By Police1
MILWAUKEE — The Milwaukee police department released body camera footage from a home invasion that ended in the suspect’s death, Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reported.
Officers responded to reports of people with guns on Dec. 7. When police arrived, they found two men had entered a residence and were holding the occupants hostage.
"(The) incident was dynamic and violent,” Chief Edward Flynn told the news site. “It was a moment-to-moment set of circumstances in which officers were making decisions in seconds that literally had life-and-death consequences.”
One 43-year-old suspect ran from the house and was apprehended by police. The second suspect opened fire on officers entering the home. The officers fired one shot in return and no one was wounded in the exchange.
The officers called for hostage negotiators and tactical enforcement after realizing the suspect had the residents, a 41-year-old man and 40-year-old woman, held captive in the basement.
The body camera was worn by an officer from the tactical unit and shows his attempt to talk down the 33-year-old suspect.
A total of five gunshots rang out as officers negotiated with the suspect. Officers ran down into the basement and found the suspect dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. They also found two guns near his person.
The hostages were found next to the suspect with their hands tied behind their backs. The male hostage was pistol-whipped during the invasion and was taken to the hospital to treat non-life threatening injuries.
Police found marijuana and cocaine inside the residence and the hostages were taken into custody on charges of keeping a drug house.
The suspect nor hostages were identified by police.
Flynn told the publication his officer showed “courage and restraint.”
“I really believe that these body-worn cameras will form a first-line of defense for police departments to depict the fact that overwhelmingly they operate within professional guidelines in harsh realities in which seconds matter,” he said to the news site.