Crime & Safety
Officers Fired 26 Bullets at Shooting Suspect From Sussex
Waukesha police officer was grazed by possible bullet debris when a 76-year-old man from Sussex fired a shotgun at them Tuesday afternoon, according to Police Chief Russell Jack.
A Waukesha police officer was grazed in the head – possibly by bullet debris – when a 76-year-old man from Sussex shot at police during a domestic dispute, Police Chief Russell Jack said Wednesday.
Two officers returned fire, shooting 26 handgun rounds in and outside the home while securing the man’s former wife and leaving the residence with her, according to Jack.
The two officers are on administrative leave. They are doing fine physically after the suspect fired two rounds of turkey shot from a shotgun at police Tuesday afternoon, Jack said.
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“Both officers are currently recovering emotionally from this very traumatic incident,” Jack said.
The man’s 75-year-old ex-wife had a broken arm after she was pushed by the man, according to Jack. The man, who was the clown director for Tripoli in 2008, faces possible charges of substantial battery-domestic abuse, violation of a domestic abuse injunction and false imprisonment. Weapon-related charges are being investigated, according to Jack.
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The man could be charged in Waukesha County Circuit Court on Thursday.
“The suspect did make some remarks to his daughter that he was married 53 years ago, and 'till death do we part,” Jack said.
The police department was called to the residence in the 1800 block of Racine Avenue at 4:13 p.m. Tuesday for the domestic violence incident. The elderly man and woman are divorced and the woman had a restraining order filed against the man. Court records show the man lives in Sussex.
"This is a residence with a history of domestic-related incidents," Jack said on Tuesday.
The man was in court on Tuesday, where he was found in contempt of court in his divorce case for not signing a tax refund document. He was sentenced to 30 days in jail or he could sign the tax refund and pay $130 within 30 days.
The man was also ordered to pay his ex-wife, who was to keep the tax refund, $350 within 30 days.
A restraining order with a weapon prohibition against the man was granted in 2010 to last through 2014, although court records do not indicate if it was the man’s ex-wife who filed the restraining order.
In addition to the FBI, Waukesha Police Department and the Waukesha County Sheriff’s Department, police departments from Brookfield, the Town of Brookfield, Butler, Oconomowoc, New Berlin and the Wisconsin State Patrol responded to the scene.
