MILWAUKEE — A man armed with knives was fatally shot Tuesday by Columbus, Ohio, police assigned to help with security at the Republican National Convention, officials said.
The afternoon shooting happened near King Park, according to information provided by the Milwaukee County medical examiner. Police said it was unrelated to any activity at the convention.
The county agency responded to a death report at an intersection on the edge of the park, it said in a statement. Officials did not provide the identity of the man who was killed. An autopsy was expected Wednesday, the medical examiner’s office said.
The incident took place about 1 mile from the convention in a residential neighborhood that includes a large homeless encampment.
Milwaukee Police Chief Jeffrey B. Norman said 13 Columbus bicycle officers assigned to cover daily events associated with the convention happened to be in the neighborhood on Tuesday, discussing the day’s security plans.
Shortly after 1 p.m., a confrontation erupted between two men, one with a knife in each hand, the other unarmed, near the Columbus officers, the chief said at an evening news conference.
The officers rushed to intervene and, after the armed man allegedly failed to comply with orders to drop the knives and then charged at the other man, a number of them opened fire, Norman said.
He wasn’t sure how many officers fired their weapons. All of the officers who responded to the initial altercation, he indicated, are from Columbus. Two knives were recovered, he said.
Milwaukee police on Tuesday evening released body camera footage of the shooting.
The Columbus officers were standing in a group, discussing the convention, when one seems to notice the two men, the video shows. “They’re fighting,” the unnamed officer says.
As the officers turn their attention to the two, another says, “He’s got a knife.”
Officers can be heard yelling at the men before quickly running toward them. Some can be heard screaming, “Drop the knife.”
The officer whose body cam footage was released can be seen pointing his gun toward the pair. One of the men seems to be holding something in his right hand as at least one officer again shouts, “Drop the knife now.”
The man with the item in his hand instead moves toward the other man, prompting police to open fire.
The chief argued that the shooting did not only appear to be justified, but it may have save the life of the other party in the dispute.
“This is a situation where somebody’s life was in immediate danger,” Norman said.
The deceased was described by the chief only as a 43-year-old man. He said an outside police department was investigating the officers’ use of deadly force, and that body camera video of the incident would be released in accordance with Milwaukee police policy.
Columbus was among a number of cities that sent law enforcement resources to assist during the convention.
Both the Columbus Division of Police and the Columbus Fraternal Order of Police, the union that represents rank-and-file city officers, said in separate statements that they were made aware of an officer-involved shooting involving Columbus officers in Milwaukee to help with security during the convention.
Columbus police said the incident happened in the “outer perimeter of the RNC, within the operational zone to which our officers were assigned.”
No officers were injured, the Fraternal Order of Police said.
Some city activists who opposed Milwaukee’s hosting the convention were incensed by the shooting, saying at a news conference that it took place in the park named for civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. in a community already struggling for survival.
“We’re not even two days into the RNC, and we already have a casualty,” said Alan Chavoya, a member of the group Milwaukee Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression.
He continued, “How is that possible?”
An affiliated group called the Coalition to March on the RNC, which has been opposed to bringing outside police to the city, said in a statement that the incident, which it described as “murder,” was avoidable.
“The incident today is something that was predicted by Black and brown communities since the RNC was announced for Milwaukee,” the coalition said. “It is painful to say that these predictions came true.”
Domino Williams, outreach officer for the Democratic Socialists of America Milwaukee chapter, said in an interview that the group was told local authorities would “make sure the out-of-town police were on their best behavior.”
“We were assured out-of-towners were here for the security of participants of the event,” he said. “It’s really disheartening.”
Two witnesses told reporters that the victim is a homeless man who was trying to get away from police when he was struck by gunfire.
The witnesses, Christina Kugler and Mark Walker, said they didn’t see what happened before the confrontation. They said multiple officers opened fire.
Security video of the confrontation verified by NBC News shows a man going down in a street as multiple officers approach. It wasn’t clear what happened before the police and the man entered the camera’s frame.
As a vigil for the victim was taking place nearby, four candles to honor the deceased were burning at the location of his shooting. Community members also coned off the part of the street where he fell.
Alice Taylor stood over the makeshift memorial and wept. She said she lived in a tent next to the man’s and often saw him playing with his dog.
“The way it happened was senseless,” she said, criticizing the shooters. “We’re homeless. This is our park. Why were they even here?”
On Monday, former President Donald Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, appeared at the convention, which is being held at multiple adjacent venues downtown, including Fiserv Forum and the Wisconsin Center District.
His appearance followed an attempted assassination at a political rally Saturday in Pennsylvania, in which, he said, he was shot in the ear.
