Milwaukee police release bodycam video of officer shooting 17-year-old armed with rifle
MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) — The Milwaukee Police Department has released body-worn camera video from a September officer-involved shooting that left a 17-year-old injured after police say he ran from officers while armed with a rifle.
The release provides new video from the Sept. 30 incident near South Eighth Street and West Scott Street. The teenager, identified in court records as Jouthem L. Rodriguez-La Court, has since been formally charged in connection with the events leading up to the shooting.
Rodriguez-La Court, 17, is charged with second-degree recklessly endangering safety with use of a dangerous weapon, possession of a dangerous weapon by a person under 18 as a party to a crime and obstructing an officer.
The incident began shortly after 9:20 p.m. when Milwaukee police received multiple 911 calls reporting gunfire in the 1300 block of South 15th Street.
According to a criminal complaint, investigators later recovered 20 .223-caliber casings clustered in an alley behind a home in the neighborhood.
Police described the area as densely residential, with five homes located within 95 feet of where the casings were recovered. Investigators said they did not find apparent bullet strikes to homes, vehicles or other property.
Witnesses told police a group of people had been gathered in the alley with dirt bikes when an argument broke out.
One juvenile witness told investigators he saw one person holding a handgun before another person handed someone an "AK-47 style" rifle.
The witness said the person with the rifle fired several shots into the air before pointing the weapon toward the ground and firing additional rounds near other people and dirt bikes.
The witness described the shooter as a thin Hispanic male dressed in black and wearing a face covering.
Within seconds to about a minute of the initial 911 call, Milwaukee police officers encountered people riding dirt bikes roughly a half-mile away near West Scott Street and South Eighth Street.
According to the complaint, officers attempted to stop one of the riders, but he did not comply.
Police say the rider abandoned his dirt bike and ran through an alley while carrying a rifle-style firearm.
Officers pursued him on foot and ordered him to drop the weapon, according to the complaint.
Police say he did not comply.
During the pursuit, one officer fired several shots, striking Rodriguez-La Court in the legs.
Officers then took him into custody and provided medical aid.
Milwaukee police previously identified the officer who fired his weapon as a 26-year-old man with more than three years of service. The officer was placed on administrative duty following the shooting, which is standard procedure after an officer-involved shooting.
Investigators recovered a Radical Firearms AR-15-style rifle in an alley behind the 700 block of West Madison Street.
Police also recovered two 30-round magazines that had been taped together. One magazine contained 10 unfired cartridges, while the other contained all 30 rounds.
According to prosecutors, Rodriguez-La Court's fingerprints were found on the tape binding the two magazines together.
Investigators later compared the 20 cartridge casings recovered from the South 15th Street alley with the rifle recovered following the police shooting.
A preliminary ballistics comparison determined all 20 casings had been fired from that weapon, according to the criminal complaint.
The rifle was identified as a Radical Firearms RF-15 chambered in 5.56 mm and equipped with a red-dot sight and laser.
The complaint says ammunition remaining in the magazines included green-tip 5.56 mm rounds.
The second-degree recklessly endangering safety charge carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison, with up to an additional five years because prosecutors allege a dangerous weapon was used.
Each of the two misdemeanor charges carries a maximum sentence of nine months in jail.
The case remains pending in Milwaukee County Circuit Court.