Officers shot, killed a man wielding two knives blocks away from the Republican National Convention
MILWAUKEE — Ohio police officers in Wisconsin for the Republican National Convention shot and killed a man who was wielding two knives near the convention, Milwaukee's police chief said Tuesday.
Five members of the Columbus, Ohio, police department fired on the man, who had a knife in each hand, refused police commands and charged at an unarmed man before police fired, Milwaukee Chief Jeffrey Norman said at a news conference. Two knives were recovered from the scene, the chief said.
Police released body camera footage that showed officers on bikes talking before one of them says, «He's got a knife.»
Several officers then yell «Drop the knife!» as they run toward two men standing in a street. When the armed man moved toward the unarmed man, police fired their weapons.
«Someone's life was in danger,» Norman said. «These officers, who were not from this area, took it upon themselves to act and save someone's life today.»
Thousands of officers from multiple jurisdictions are in Milwaukee providing additional security for the convention that began Monday and concludes Thursday.
The shooting fueled anger from residents who questioned why out-of-state officers were in their neighborhood located about a mile from the convention site.
AdvertisementThe Columbus Division of Police, as well as the chief of staff for Milwaukee's mayor and a spokesperson for the convention's joint command center, all said there was nothing to suggest the shooting was related to the convention itself.
A cousin and others identified the man killed as 43-year-old Samuel Sharpe.
Milwaukee residents and activists quickly converged on the site of the shooting, many of them expressing outrage about the involvement of a police department in town because of the convention.
About 100 people held a vigil and march without incident on Tuesday night, pausing for a moment of silence at the blood-stained spot where Sharpe was killed.
Advertisement«They came into our community and shot down our family right here at a public park,» said Linda Sharpe, a cousin of the man who was killed. «What are you doing in our city, shooting people down?»
Linda Sharpe said her cousin lived in a tent encampment across the
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