Milwaukee police shooting, family questions police details

MILWAUKEE - The family of a man shot and killed by Milwaukee police earlier this week is now questioning MPD's account of what happened. 

Printis Smith, 23, died Tuesday, Sept. 8, after what MPD called an "exchange of gunfire" between him and an officer.

The civil rights attorney now representing Smith's family, B'Ivory LaMarr, said family members who were shown the body camera video saw something completely different than what police described.

"They described it as being just a cold killing," said LaMarr. "There were many discrepancies that they have found based on the earlier reports."

Milwaukee police said Smith and another person were inside a vehicle near 39th and Meinecke that fit the description of a vehicle wanted in connection to a shots-fired incident in Glendale.

Police said officers tried to stop the car, leading to a chase. Both Smith and the other person eventually got out of the vehicle near 37th and Wright, before running away.

"The officer gave the suspect several commands to get on the ground that the suspect disregarded," said Police Chief Jeffrey Norman. "The suspect and the officer then exchanged gunfire."

The family, however, disagrees.

"The family states that based off the bodycam footage that they viewed, that there was no shootout," LaMarr said.

LaMarr said family members did see Smith running with a gun, but did not see him shooting it. 

During Tuesday's press conference, Chief Norman said otherwise after he saw the video.

"The suspect had a firearm in his hand; there is like a little struggle at the time, but I do know that there were two gunshots fired at the time," Norman said. "We believe that the suspect fired his gun."

The family said before the shooting they saw Smith stop running on the body cam.

"They say Printis stopped at some point; his back was toward the officer, and the officer reached with his left arm to grab Printis' left shoulder to bring him toward him. I guess in effort to have Printis face him," LaMarr said. "And at that point the officer then shot Printis directly in his head."

Chief Norman said, during the incident, the 35-year-old officer who was involved was injured, treated and released from the hospital. He said police, at the time, were still trying to determine the sequence of events.

LaMarr said the family now questions whether any shots were necessary.

"It now becomes a question as to whether the officer's conduct was reasonable, was it justifiable," LaMarr said.

The public will see some of the video later in September in line with Milwaukee police policy.

The Wauwatosa Police Department is leading this investigation as state law requires. 

The Wauwatosa Police Department shared this response on Saturday: "Investigators are still conducting follow-up interviews, gathering additional evidence, and awaiting forensic evidence processing. Sharing additional information now would be premature and could compromise the investigation and a fair, independent review by the Milwaukee County District Attorney’s Office. We are working to wrap up this investigation as quickly as we can, but we cannot sacrifice accuracy for speed."

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