Milwaukee police release footage of I-43 officer shooting, injuring 2 teens

Milwaukee police released footage Friday from a June police shooting on Interstate 43 following a pursuit of a vehicle connected to an armed robbery.

Six teens were inside the vehicle when police fired into the SUV, striking two of them, with one whose pregnancy ended.

Footage released Friday from the June 20 incident shows the driver of the SUV, Calveyon Jeans, reversed the vehicle into a police squad and an officer yanked at the door and yelled commands for him to stop the vehicle. Jeans, 17, then drove forward, as three officers approach the vehicle. He then reversed again and an officer behind it moved out of the way.

An officer then fired into the vehicle, striking Jeans and his pregnant girlfriend Ashley Patterson, 19. The pair’s unborn child did not survive the shooting and police said Patterson received life-threatening injuries, while Jeans had serious injuries.

Jeans’ mother, Nakia Moore, previously told the Journal Sentinel that Patterson was six months pregnant. Four other teens, ages 15 to 18, were also inside the vehicle and a firearm was recovered.

Calvin Jeans, Calveyon’s father, said Friday the footage was difficult to watch, calling it “extremely scary.” He questioned the officer’s use of force.

“I just would not believe that they would use deadly force when he’s simply still just trying to evade police and capture,” he said. “Nothing about his action showed he was trying to hurt any officer.” 

The father said he gets calls from Calveyon while in jail about every other day and is focused on trying to make him comfortable. The police shooting has had ramifications to the rest of his family too, with one of his children now afraid of police, he said.

“I’m just trying to save my son,” Calvin Jeans said.

The officer who fired his weapon remains on administrative duty, per department policy, the police said in a news release.

Use-of-force expert says shooting likely lawful, followed department policy

Tim Dimoff, a police use-of-force expert based in Ohio and former police officer, reviewed the footage and the police policy for shooting at moving vehicles. He said the shooting appeared lawful and that it followed the department policy.

The Milwaukee Police Department’s use-of-force policy addresses discharging firearms at moving vehicles. Officers are prohibited from firing at moving vehicles “unless deadly physical force is being used against the police member or another person by means other than a moving vehicle.”

It continues that “this is not intended to restrict an officer’s right to discharge their firearm at the operator of vehicle when it is reasonably perceived that the vehicle is being used as a weapon against the officer or others” and that it poses a threat of “substantial physical harm.”

Dimoff noted that the car became “very aggressive” once it reverses and hit the police vehicle.

“The car became a weapon,” Dimoff said. “This car kept going back and forth and kept going towards the officers and they gave ample warning. … I think the danger to the officers escalated.”

Dimoff said that use-of-force policies determining when it’s appropriate to shoot at a moving vehicle have become more restrictive in recent years.

Milwaukee’s policy was typical in the nation, he said.

“Justification for shooting at a car has diminished and really centered around if the person in the car is using the car as an aggressive weapon,” Dimoff said.

Teens were wanted for previous crimes, police say

Footage of the chase released on Friday shows the lead-up to the highway shooting.

Officers attempted to stop a white SUV at about 2:23 p.m. near North 17th and West Vliet streets, according to police. The SUV was connected to an attempted armed robbery carjacking and an armed robbery carjacking of other vehicles, which occurred earlier in the day in downtown Milwaukee.

Video shows the SUV initially stopped before speeding off. Soon, the chase led to I-43 where the SUV was being driven recklessly, weaving in and out of traffic, and passing vehicles on the shoulder.

Soon, the driver entered a construction zone where workers were and became stuck after being blocked by a cement truck. The SUV then reversed into a police vehicle, as an officer attempted to open a driver-side door of the SUV and pointed a firearm at the vehicle.

Two additional officers approached with their guns drawn as the vehicle moved forward again, with one standing about a car’s length behind it. As the vehicle began to reverse, the officer behind moved out of the way and another officer fired into the vehicle.

Four of the occupants were charged in adult court about a week after the shooting, including Jeans, Patterson, and two other passengers, Semira Dean, 18, and Tyrone Rogers, 17.

According to a criminal complaint, on June 20, shortly after noon, a visitor from out of state was operating a rental compact car in a parking lot in the 500 block of North Broadway downtown when she was approached by three teens, whom police say were Rogers and two, unnamed juveniles not charged in adult court. She said the teens were driving a white Chevrolet Trax, the same SUV involved in the pursuit and eventual police shooting.

She said the armed teens demanded her keys and grabbed at her hand, but she fought off the teens, who eventually got back in the Chevrolet and drove away.

Less than 30 minutes later, only two blocks away, another person visiting Milwaukee was approached by two teens, whom police say were the two unnamed juveniles. The man said he was operating a rented SUV in the 400 block of East Clybourne Street when a young girl knocked on his window and began asking about restaurants, according to the complaint. The man said he began looking up restaurants on his phone when suddenly a boy stuck a gun inside the vehicle.

The teens demanded the man get out of the vehicle and then the juveniles drove away in the vehicle. According to the complaint, Dean, Jeans, Patterson and Rogers had been watching the robbery nearby in the Chevrolet.

Police said the Chevrolet Trax was stolen by two teens on June 8 parked outside of the McDonald’s at 420 E. Capitol Drive. Also, in September, a Waukesha County sheriff’s deputy had his personal compact car stolen while parked on the 1400 block of East Brady Street on the east side, the complaint states.

Inside the vehicle were the deputy’s duty weapon and personal weapon. When police recovered the vehicle in January the duty weapon was missing, the complaint states. Jeans would later admit that he, Dean and another unnamed teen stole the firearm in September.

Where to find help

Milwaukee’s Office of Community Wellness and Safety recommends these resources for free support:

414Life outreach and conflict mediation support: 414-439-5525.

Milwaukee County’s 24-Hour Mental Health Crisis Line: 414-257-7222.

Milwaukee’s Child Mobile Crisis and Trauma Response Team: 414-257-7621.

National crisis text line: Text HOPELINE to 741741 to text with a trained crisis counselor.

National Suicide Prevention Hotline: 800-273-8255.

The National Domestic Violence Hotline is 800-799-7233.