Off-duty Milwaukee police officer shooting video released

MILWAUKEE - Milwaukee police just released video showing last week’s (Oct. 9) off-duty police shooting death.

The mother of Elijah Wilks said after watching the video, she believes the officer was justified.

It's unusual for MPD to release video this quickly, but some in the community had questions, and the family said they wanted people to see for themselves.

Video released

What we know:

The video was captured by the off-duty officer's dash camera.

Note: the content may be disturbing to some viewers.

Click here to view the video on the Milwaukee Police Department's YouTube page.

You can see it starts with a fender bender on Mill Road.

The family says it is Elijah Wilks who then gets out of the front car.

FREE DOWNLOAD: Get breaking news alerts in the FOX LOCAL Mobile app for iOS or Android

MPD and the police union say he hit the off-duty officer in the face with a gun, and MPD then said there was a shootout.

"The vantage point of that video is clear, it's within a few feet away, so again, the proximity is substantially more reliable. And it depicts the details that are very critical here," said B'Ivory Lamarr, the attorney for Wilks' family.

Lamarr and the family watched the video Friday and came out right away and said they thought the officer was justified in shooting.

"When we saw the video for the first time, completely silent. You know, I was it was unimaginable, you know, what actually took place, and we requested to see it a second time, and it's just something that we just have to take acceptance and accountability for," added Lamarr. "I think it was clear that he definitely brought out the firearm first, and that he, you know violently, kind of swung the firearm in the officer's direction that resulted in that response."

"If there is a presence of a firearm and the individual feels like they have their life in jeopardy. I think that that in itself, you know, satisfies that requirement," he added.

Other family shared their heartbreak on Friday.

"And my nephew, he made a decision that he should not have made. And that is just something we have to live with," said Latric Bell, the aunt of Elijah Wilks.

Wilks' mom and attorney Lamarr said they wanted MPD to hold off on releasing the video to give the family time to grieve.

But over the weekend—a YouTube account posted some surveillance video and questioned what happened.

That video was grainy. It was from a surveillance camera across the street, and it was hard to make out what happened between the off-duty officer and Elijah Wilks.

On Monday Oct. 13, the family said they wanted to bring clarity, so people could see what they saw.

"I think that's critical for healing for this community," said Lamarr.

Milwaukee police's new policy says the department will release video like this within 15 days.

They'll show the family the video within 48 hours.

In this instance—they showed the family the video the day after the shooting and shared it publicly within days.

Previous reporting

The backstory:

Wilk's family believes their loved one made a tragic mistake. After watching video of what happened, they thanked the police department and called the shooting "justified."

"He was a good person, like, everybody loved my brother," said Elayjah Wilks.

The 26-year-old man's heartbroken family had a powerful message on Friday.

"It could’ve been any one of us, any one of our kids, because we are all one seat away from making the wrong decision," said Andrea Ward, Wilks' aunt.

SIGN UP TODAY: Get daily headlines, breaking news emails from FOX6 News

B'Ivory LaMarr, the family's attorney, discussed video of the incident that he and the family said is on track with the series of events that MPD said happened on Thursday.

"The video in which myself and his mother watched today is that he did slap the off-duty officer with a firearm," said B'Ivory LaMarr, the family's attorney. "(It) does depict Elijah pointing the firearm at the off-duty officer. The off-duty officer did respond, we believe, in accordance with his training and did fire off several shots."

After a news conference, Wilks' family released balloons – a moment for them to pause and remember their loved one.

"He made a decision that he should not have made, and that is just something we have to live with," said Latrice Bell, Wilks' aunt. "Him as a person – he was a son, a brother, a grandson, a nephew.

"Don’t believe Elijah knew that he was a police officer, but whether it was or wasn’t – the encounter should have been different. It should’ve been different right out the gate."

Crime and Public SafetyNewsMilwaukeeMilwaukee Police Department