Ex-officers probing Milwaukee shooting

MILWAUKEE — Wisconsin’s attorney general acknowledged Monday that former Milwaukee police officers, now working for the state Department of Justice, are investigating the fatal shooting of a black man by a Milwaukee officer that triggered two nights of violence.

Attorney General Brad Schimel said he doesn’t see a conflict in using former Milwaukee officers in the investigation into the Aug. 13 shooting of Sylville K. Smith.

Smith, 23, was killed after what Milwaukee police said was a brief foot chase when he ran from a traffic stop. A few hours after Smith’s death, a protest on the city’s largely black north side erupted into violence that reignited the following night in the Sherman Park neighborhood.

However, State Rep. David Bowen, who grew up in the Sherman Park neighborhood, questioned the use of former Milwaukee officers in the investigation and called for Schimel to turn the case over to the U.S. Department of Justice.

“People are crying out for transparency and crying out for accountability,” said Bowen.

The attorney general said there are two videos from body cameras worn by two of the three officers who were at the scene, but that no video or still shots from the video will be released until Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm is done with the case.