Milwaukee police shoot armed suspect after he fires at officers

MILWAUKEE (WITI) -- Milwaukee police shot a 24-year-old suspect armed with a semiautomatic handgun on Saturday morning, November 30th after he fired at uniformed officers.

The incident happened around 10:20 a.m. near 46th and Keefe.

An officer stopped the suspect after noticing him driving recklessly on W. Fond du Lac Ave. The suspect fled from the officer a short time after being pulled over -- causing a traffic accident at Fond du Lac and Roosevelt.

The suspect then fled on foot.

Contractors Steve Briggs and Johnnie Anderson witnessed the incident.

"When he came around the house he had the gun pointed at me like he was going to shoot," said Briggs. "I froze. I looked right at his face, right in his eyes."

The officer searched the area and located the man between two homes on W. Keefe.

"That's when the officer told him to drop the gun," said Anderson. "He began immediately to fire at the police officer."

The suspect fired at officer, striking his squad car, then ran into an alley where he fired at additional responding officers. Two of the officers returned fire, striking and stopping the suspect.

"You got six shots fired right next to me, then the officers ran down -- you have six shots fired behind me, then they ran in the back and it was at least 20 more shots," said Briggs.

No Milwaukee Police officers were injured during the incident.

The officers who fired at the suspect have 35 years of combined service. They have both been placed on administrative duty pending the completion of an investigation.

The suspect in the incident has a criminal record including drug and weapons offenses. He is wanted on a felony drug warrant and a paternity warrant -- he is also the suspect of an armed robbery that took place at a north side Milwaukee gas station in October.

The suspect was taken to an area hospital and is being treated for what are believed to be non-life threatening injuries.

The incident is being investigated by the Milwaukee Police Department and the Milwaukee County District Attorney's Office.