Milwaukee police shooting on July 4th weekend, suspect in court
Critical incident near Water and Knapp in Milwaukee on July 5
MILWAUKEE - The 18-year-old man accused of hitting a Milwaukee police officer with his car on July 5 is now being held in jail on a $200,000 bond.
Hunter Meyer, of Rothschild, made his initial appearance in the county's intake court Saturday afternoon.
What we know:
Meyer faces 10 total charges, including first-degree recklessly endangering safety, hit-and-run involving injury, second-degree recklessly endangering safety, carrying a concealed weapon and fleeing an officer causing bodily harm.
Defense attorney Margo Clark originally asked for a $10,000 bond, since Meyer had no adult criminal record before this case.
4th of July weekend police shooting
The backstory:
Around 2 a.m. July 5, Milwaukee police officers working crowd control in downtown heard gunshots in the area of Knapp and Water Streets. Police said they saw someone driving a black Audi S6 around a crowd of people in a parking lot that drove away after the gunshots.
According to a criminal complaint, police said the driver, later identified as Meyer, struck one officer and nearly hit three others before driving away. The officers involved fired shots toward Meyer's car.
Police arrested Meyer a short time later after he crashed into another vehicle near Fond du Lac Avenue and Walnut Street.
Witnesses told police they saw Meyer holding a gun in his hand and firing on a group of people in the parking lot.
According to the complaint, Meyer told police that the incident began hours earlier on July 4 while he was at Summerfest with friends. The group was ejected for being rowdy and wearing "sheisty" masks.
Meyer and his friends then drove down to Water Street where they ran into another group of people who he described as "ops", or opponents.
Meyer said the groups got into an argument and people from both groups were "clutching" for concealed guns. He said he heard gunshots and ran for cover near his car, along with others who were involved.
Meyer said officers were allowing cars to leave the lot but when he tried, an officer pointed their gun at him.
"And then I accidentally…not accidentally. I just like go through 'em, and I accidentally hit this one lady police officer in the foot apparently," Meyer said.
Police told FOX6 News all the officers involved in this shooting will be placed on administrative duty, which is standard protocol.
Officers involved in this incident are a 28-year-old male with over 7 years of service and a 27-year-old male with over 8 years of service. The injured officer has served for less than a year.
Meyer is expected back in court on July 17.
The Source: Information in this post is from the Milwaukee Police Department, the Milwaukee County District Attorney's Office and Wisconsin Circuit Court.