Thursday, June 9, 2011

Marinette County, WI: Marinette Sheriff updates domestic violence killing

MARINETTE CO. -- "A sad day in Marinette County."

That's how Marinette County Sheriff Jerry Suave started his press conference Wednesday afternoon.

Around 1:10 a.m. Wednesday three sheriff's deputies responded to a 911 call of a domestic dispute at N 6114 West 26th Road in Beaver, Wisconsin.

The 80-year-old female caller stated her 83-year-old husband had a gun.

Deputies were unable to make contact with the man and shortly after his wife escaped the home safely.

Then the man came out with a shotgun and did not respond to police commands to drop the weapon.

"There was a racking of the shotgun and that is an unmistakable noise and the gun was pointed at the officer," Suave said.

The deputy then fired three shots killing the man.

Suave said the department received no calls to the residence in the past but the wife later indicated there were problems.

The deputy has been put on administrative leave with pay in accordance with the Marinette Sheriff Department’s policy while the incident is investigated by the Wisconsin Department of Justice.

"I'm very proud of their actions and at this point in the investigation I see nothing that leads me to believe that they did not act appropriately nor respond to a situation other than how they've been trained to do" Suave said.

This is the first shooting incident involving an officer for the sheriff's department since July 1988.

No names or reasons why this happened were released Wednesday.

A press conference to update the investigation is scheduled for Friday at 2 p.m.

No comments: