Man in fatal police shooting identified; MPD chief, friend of man offer perspectives on deadly police shooting
MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- The man who was shot and killed by Milwaukee police near 91st and Silver Spring Tuesday, Feb. 21 has been identified.
The Milwaukee County Medical Examiner's Office identified him as 31-year-old Herman Lucas of Milwaukee.
Court records show Lucas pleaded guilty in 2010 for first degree reckless injury. In that case, Lucas was just feet away when he pointed a gun at his girlfriend and the weapon fired, striking her in the face. She survived and Lucas claimed it was an accident.
Lucas also had a warrant out for his arrest for a case in Waukesha County for providing misappropriate identity information to obtain money.
A woman who knew Lucas for more than two decades and witnessed the shooting spoke to CBS 58 Thursday.
"It's very hurtful because again this is my friend for 20 years so now he's gone," the woman said.
She works at the gas station where the shooting occurred and did not want to be identified. She said she knew Lucas from growing up in the same neighborhood in Milwaukee. She added she believes Lucas's actions on Tuesday were out of desperation.
"He wasn't a bad guy, like I said, getting to the bottom of the reason of everything happening can be bad, but he wasn't a bad guy, he's human," she said.
She also expressed concern about what she saw in a video circulating on social media showing police officers moving his body.
"It was just careless, it was very, very careless and it makes me feel some type of way," the woman said. "Teach MPD, train MPD better to handle us as humans."
CBS 58 spoke with MPD Jeffrey Norman to talk about those concerns. He said he's aware of the videos on social media but urged patience as well as consideration for police training which has officers respect those they interact with but also ensure their own safety and the safety of people around an incident.
"The officer still has a requirement to be also safe. And so, it's a balancing act," Norman said.
"I always ask for patience in regards to our public, looking for more than just one angle of a particular story," Norman added. "I think it's important for us to understand that you know, ask a couple of more questions before getting to a conclusion."
Norman hopes a community briefing in the future will answer more questions, but for now, the department is conducting its own administrative investigation to look into the actions of officers that day, including with moving the body, and if those actions coincided with department protocol and policy.
"It's important for the public to know that we take that very seriously," Norman said.
Norman could not speak on specifics of the case as it is being investigated by the Waukesha Police Department.