We now have more details in a local officer invovled shooting. The update came from Karl Anderson. District Attorney with the St. Croix County District Attorney’s Office
The findings were sent to the Polk County Sheriff’s Office this morning as well as a second opinion from Polk County DA Jeff Kemp. Below is a summary of the incident as reported by Anderson:
I have reviewed the complete file regarding the death of Tyler Abel, including officer reports, and all body cam footage taken of the incident. To briefly recap, officers were called to Mr. Abel’s residence by Mr. Abel’s wife, who indicated that they had had an argument, and that when she called 911, Mr. Abel threatened to shoot the police with an AR type rifle he had retrieved from the home. Ms. Abel grabbed the rifle from him, and police arrived. While Ms. Abel was placing the gun in the garden out of reach, it appears that Mr. Abel retrieved another gun, a rifle or shotgun as opposed to a pistol. Police on the scene ordered Mr. Abel several times to put the weapon down, and when he did not, they fired their weapons, striking and killing Mr. Abel. The scene was cleared and the investigation continued.
In determining whether the use of deadly force was appropriate, WI Stat 175.44(2)(b) &(c) guided the analysis and further details in the report.
In conclusion, the report states:
It is clear from the reports and body cam footage that other options to defuse the situation had been exhausted. It is reasonable that Mr. Abel’s words and actions posed what appeared to be an imminent threat to officers on the scene. Officers gave verbal warnings and then used deadly force. It is my opinion that the officers justified in using deadly force in this
