Bodycam video released after fatal police-involved shooting near 37th and Wright

MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- The Milwaukee Police Department released body camera footage from an officer-involved shooting that left a 23-year-old man dead. 

Printis Smith CBS 58

The shooting happened Sept. 8, when officers spotted a car wanted in connection with a shots fired case in Glendale.

Police say the driver stopped near 37th and Wright. The driver and a second person got out and ran. An officer chased one suspect a few blocks away, where gunfire was exchanged. Twenty-three-year-old Printis Smith died at the scene. 

On Wednesday, Sept. 23, body camera video was shared by the Milwaukee Police Department showing the chase and shooting. In it, an officer can be seen chasing Printis and is heard yelling commands to get on the ground. Police say Printis and the officer then exchange gunfire. 

Smith's family and the police union continue to be at odds over what happened.

Only one body cam captured the incident and the shooting happened while the camera was covered and the audio was muffled.

We know the officer was shot in the leg and Smith was shot and killed. But what is not shown is being interpreted differently by the parties involved.

Alexander Ayala, the president of the Milwaukee Police Association, told us Wednesday, "A picture is worth a thousand words."

B'Ivory LaMarr, the attorney for Printis Smith's family, said, "While we concentrate on what the video does show, we have to also equally consider what it does not."

The battle to control the narrative started almost immediately after the shooting and continued after the video was released.

Ayala and LaMarr disagree about what the video shows.

LaMarr said, "There are serious concerns as to whether deadly force was warranted here."

Four times the officer told Smith to "Get on the ground!"

Ayala said, "If he would have just complied with those commands, none of this would have happened. But that wasn't the case."

But LaMarr argues, "He never commands him to drop a weapon."

Smith's family acknowledges he had a gun. At one point, the video shows Smith pointing his right hand back toward the officer.

Ayala said, "That alone right there is a threat to the officer, to his safety. And any reasonable officer would have done what this officer did."

The night of the shooting, police chief Jeffrey Norman said, "There is a little bit of a struggle at the time."

But LaMarr disputes that.

"I see once that officer gets in close range he grabs him and he shoots him," LaMarr said. "That's what I see. I don't see a tussle; I don't see any type of struggle."

Ayala said there doesn't have to be a struggle.

"As long as the officer perceived that there was a life-threatening scenario there," Ayala said, "then a reasonable officer can shoot back."

So far, there is no second angle of the shooting.

We asked MPD for the other officer's video but MPD said he was chasing the other suspect and it did not capture the shooting.

LaMarr said Smith's family is waiting to hear from the Wauwatosa Police Department—the investigating agency—before evaluating their legal options.

We reached out to Wauwatosa PD for more information and will update when we hear back from them.

Printis was found with a firearm in his hand, another in his waistband, and another was recovered from the car.

The officer that discharged his firearm is a 35-year-old male with over three years of service. He was transported to a local hospital for treatment of a non-fatal injury and released. The officer was placed on administrative duty as is routine in officer-involved shootings.

The bodycam video can be viewed below. Viewer discretion is advised.