Family of man shot by Milwaukee police says footage shows ‘execution,’ discrepancies in police and media narrative

The family of the man shot by Milwaukee police earlier this week is speaking out after reviewing footage they say clearly contradicts statements made by the police force.

“From what they saw, they believe this is an execution. They believe this was not warranted,” said attorney B’Ivory LaMarr, who is representing the family of 23-year-old Printis Smith.

Smith was shot and killed by police on Sept. 8. According to the department, Milwaukee officers stopped a vehicle connected to a shots fired incident in Glendale.

Once stopped in the 2500 block of North 37th Street, multiple people fled the vehicle on foot, police said.

“During this foot pursuit, the officer gave the suspect several commands to get on the ground that the suspect disregarded. The suspect and the officer then exchanged gunfire,” Police Chief Jeffrey Norman said at a news conference.

Smith died from his injuries at the scene and another “suspect” was not apprehended.

But LaMarr said that is not what the family saw on video on Sept. 10. The prominent civil rights attorney doesn’t dispute that Smith had a gun, but the family said the video shows no imminent threat.

“Everything (Norman) described was largely inaccurate,” he said. “His mother said there was no announcement to drop a weapon but (the officer) did yell ‘stop!’

“(Smith) didn’t stop immediately but maybe five houses down he did stop. His back was to the officer and when the officer caught up to him he grabbed his left shoulder to kind of bring him around to face him. And upon turning him around, he shoots him in the head.”

LaMarr said the family saw no exchange of gunfire and the officer didn’t appear to be shot by Smith in the provided videos.

LaMarr said Smith was not the driver but a passenger in the backseat. “He wasn’t even the person they were really pursuing,” LaMarr said.

“(Norman) says there was an exchange of gunfire that he believes. He was asked how many shots were fired. He says, ‘two.’ So there’s really a discrepancy. Then he was asked who fired first and he couldn’t answer that question but he said he saw the bodycam.

“In addition, he said the officer was injured. Well, that’s pretty broad. Was it a gunshot like the media interpreted it to be? There was no clarifying statement. It could be a sprained ankle, pulled muscle. It was also described as a tussle, but that interpretation is being challenged as well.

“Those types of things cast doubt on the reasonableness of the officer.”

LaMarr said he was not allowed to view the video with the family. The department must release the footage to the public by Sept. 23.

“We know that he had a firearm. That’s not contested,” LaMarr said. “Now the question is, was there an imminent threat? If his back is turned towards you, and you never told him to put a weapon down or gave him a command, you pulled him toward you. You don’t normally pull a threat towards you or at least to face you. That would be increasing the threat and that would not be consistent with training. And then you immediately shoot him in the head. That version of what the family describes questions whether this was a justifiable shooting.

“They’re looking for answers to justify why the officer chose the decision to use deadly force in this instance. They believe it was not in any way for protection or safety of the officer. They believe the actions were more vengeful, maybe even retaliatory.”

The Wauwatosa Police Department is the lead investigative agency in the shooting.