MILWAUKEE — The Milwaukee County Medical Examiner's Office has identified the suspect involved in Friday night's officer-involved shooting as Ernest Terrell Blakney, the man charged with killing his girlfriend and setting a house on fire.
Blakney was shot and killed by police around 11 p.m. Friday after police say he led officers on a pursuit. After his vehicle was disabled by police, MPD says Blakney got out of his truck and started shooting at police.
Officers fired back and killed Blakney.
“My understanding is the police acted very bravely in approaching the situation. Unfortunately this happened downtown," said Mayor Cavalier Johnson.
A 22-year-old woman from Hudson, Wisconsin, was also hit in the melee. Police say she'll survive.
“No other place in the world, industrialized nation in the world faces as much gun violence as we do. And that’s problematic, something we have to continue to address," said Johnson.
On Saturday, nearly 24 hours after the shootout, bars and restaurants along Juneau remained open, with decent crowds. Alanna Stark was walking along Juneau with her family.
As a bystander outside a theater, she was shot in both feet in 2019.
“It’s been challenging having to go back out to events, big crowded events," said Stark. "I hope she’s [Hudson woman] OK. I don’t think people understand the effect it has on bystanders.”
Police had been searching for Blakney since his girlfriend was found dead inside a home following a house fire on Aug. 25. Prosecutors say Blakney shot and killed 36-year-old Nikia Rogers near 83rd and Vienna.
Rogers lived in the home with Blakney at the time of the homicide.
According to a criminal complaint, she'd been shot in the head, and an autopsy later revealed she was also shot in the back. Investigators also discovered lighter fluid near her body.
The complaint says Rogers wanted to leave Blakney and was moving things out of the house when he allegedly killed her.
Blakney was previously charged with felony second-degree sexual assault in Milwaukee County.
In November of 2021, he posted $5,000 cash bail. He pleaded guilty on Aug. 15 of this year with a sentencing date scheduled for Oct. 20. The complaint says his conditions of bail were still in effect at the time of Rogers' murder.
