WEST MILWAUKEE -- A West Milwaukee man died in police custody Thursday after he allegedly flooded his apartment and was shot by a stun gun, police say.
Officers were called to an apartment building in the 5400 block of W. Greenfield Ave. at about 5 a.m. Thursday morning. According to initial reports, the man was naked, incoherent, and flooding his apartment. Resident Eva Hubbard says she woke up to a loud noise.
"It sounded like someone fell," she said.
West Milwaukee police called West Allis police for backup due to "the combativeness and uncooperativeness" of the man, a joint news release says. A resident who does not want to be identified took it upon himself to see what was going on.
"I heard like yelling, I came out of my apartment, I went up the stairs because I thought it was domestic violence,” said the neighbor.
That resident says police stopped him halfway up the stairs.
"I didn't see no fighting, I heard him scream three times when he got Tased three times," he said.
Police say the man was shot by an electronic control device (commonly referred to as a Taser) after he continued to be uncooperative. He was then taken into custody, and officers say he stopped breathing while they were monitoring him.
"That guy, he weighs about 240, so there would have been a scuffle," a neighbor said.
There's no word yet on the man's cause of death. A West Milwaukee officer was treated for a minor injury in the incident.
Since this is an officer-involved incident, the Milwaukee County Investigative Team now takes over. The Greenfield Police Department will lead the investigation. The West Milwaukee Police Chief told TODAY’S TMJ4 that the officers involved were wearing body cameras.
