Carjacking leads to an officer involved shooting

Today at 5:10 pm the La Crosse Police were dispatched to Houska Park for a report of a carjacking. The female victim told the responding officer that a male approached her, displayed a handgun and stole her vehicle. The victim was able to get herself and her 3 year old child out of the vehicle prior to it being stolen; however her 1 year old daughter was still in her car seat.  The suspect was described as a white male.

Within minutes of receiving this information, La Crosse Police Officers located the stolen vehicle and attempted to stop it. The suspect refused to stop and led officers on a short pursuit which ended with the suspect crashing into a parked vehicle near 8th and Johnson St.  As officers approached the vehicle the suspect was refusing to obey officers’ commands.  The officers observed a handgun in the vehicle and were forced to fire their weapons, striking the suspect.  The suspect was transported to a local hospital; however the suspect was pronounced dead at 6:03 pm.

The one year old child was rescued from the vehicle and given to the father. No one else was injured during the incident.  There are no other suspects and there is no one else in custody as part of this incident.

In compliance with Wisconsin law and Department procedures, the Wisconsin Division of Criminal Investigation has been called upon as an independent outside agency to conduct the investigation into the shooting. This is the first officer involved shooting resulting in the death of a suspect since 1935.

Per Department policy, the two officers involved in the shooting will be place on paid administrative leave pending review of the investigation.

The name of the suspect, involved officers and additional details will be released as they become available.

3 Comments on “Carjacking leads to an officer involved shooting”

  1. Anonymous 08/14/2017 at 6:48 AM #

    Praying for all families involved ❤

  2. John Fredericks 08/13/2017 at 10:11 PM #

    http://www.wileorc.org/crisis-counselors/

    If I can be of any help.

    JF

  3. Nancy Bartlett 08/13/2017 at 9:09 PM #

    Thank you to our men and women in blue. I am grateful that you put yourselves in harms way to protect all of us.
    To the officers involved; a special thank you. This was a life altering experience and I hope that you understand that you were just doing your job. I wouldn’t wish anyone dead, but I’m glad that you 2 and that child are are the ones who are alive to move forward with your lives.💜💜💜

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