New Berlin officer killed man from 100 feet away, jury told
Jackson
By LISA SINK
of the Journal Sentinel staff
Last Updated: July 10, 2002
Waukesha - A New Berlin police officer fatally shot a suicidal man armed
with a knife after the man took three steps toward the officer from
about 100 feet away, an inquest jury was told Wednesday.
Quotable
Under what factual circumstances has anyone ever justified shooting
someone at 100 feet when they only have a knife?
- Mark Thomsen,
attorney for Michael Moreno, who was fatally shot by a New Berlin police
officer
Officer Richard Helm fired his M-16 rifle minutes after being told that
Michael Moreno wanted police to kill him and planned to "rush" them to
force a "suicide by cop," officers testified.
But police supervisors - who didn't want Moreno to get his wish - told
officers to hold their fire while a sergeant tried shooting Moreno with
a "less lethal" form of ammunition - a bean-bag projectile, witnesses
testified at the inquest.
The sergeant fired the bean bag, hitting Moreno in the buttocks,
officers told jurors. Within seconds Moreno stepped toward Helm, and
Helm fired from about 100 feet away, hitting Moreno in the chest,
killing him, officers testified.
Lawyer blasts decision to shoot
Helm's decision was lambasted by an attorney for Moreno's family, who
said Helm overreacted and violated training guidelines.
"Under what factual circumstances has anyone ever justified shooting
someone at 100 feet when they only have a knife?" attorney Mark Thomsen
asked news reporters outside the inquest hearing room Wednesday.
"We know that Michael was in trouble. It was very sad, and he needed
help," Thomsen said. "And yet Officer Helm basically gunned him down."
Helm is expected to testify today in the two-day proceeding that
Waukesha County District Attorney Paul Bucher convened to help him
decide whether Helm was justified in fatally shooting Moreno in
self-defense.
A six-person jury will give Bucher an advisory recommendation that he
will use to make his final decision.
DA sought more input
Bucher said he knew that Moreno's relatives - including his sister, who
is a Milwaukee police officer - believe the death was not justified. But
he said he had not jumped to the same conclusion.
"If that's the case, I would have charged him a long time ago," Bucher
said. "The inquest will have to make that determination."
He said he hoped that whatever his decision will be, the family would
garner some comfort from hearing the details.
"I have great empathy and sympathy for them," Bucher said of Moreno's
relatives. "I know it's not easy to hear these things. But the facts are
the facts. And beyond that I can't say much. By providing the facts, as
hard as they may be, I hope they provide some comfort. They'll at least
walk away with that."
Moreno's mother and girlfriend cried in court as jurors listened to a
voice-mail message Moreno left on a co-worker's cell phone shortly
before the shooting.
A distraught Moreno said he felt "psychotic" and planned to end his
life.
"The party's over today, buddy," he said.
Man's mental troubles recalled
Bucher told the jury in an opening statement that Moreno had a history
of suicidal attempts.
Two friends and co-workers of Moreno's testified Wednesday that he
didn't appear despondent the evening before the June 1 shooting. He
talked about trying to repair his van over the weekend, co-worker
Richard Lahmsen said.
But the next morning, Moreno told one of his daughters that he planned
to kill himself and left his house in Milwaukee, Bucher told jurors.
He drove to buy some sleeping pills and headed to his workplace, the
Wild Promotions warehouse at 5010 S. Emmer Drive in New Berlin, Bucher
said.
The warehouse was closed for the weekend but from inside Moreno called
two friends who testified Wednesday that he sounded intoxicated and
suicidal. An autopsy later showed that he had a 0.27 blood-alcohol level
- more than 21/2 times the level considered evidence of intoxication for
most drivers.
Lahmsen called 911, and New Berlin police arrived about 10 a.m., Lt.
Mark Perlewitz testified.
Moreno called another friend, Nicholas Kochanski, who drove to the
warehouse to try to stop Moreno from killing himself, Kochanski
testified.
He said he warned an officer that Moreno wanted them to shoot him.
"I told him that I believed he was going to be trying something -
suicide by cop," and that he had a fillet knife, Kochanski testified.
"I said you're going to have to pepper-spray him or use the baton or
something," he said.
An officer and a police sergeant talked to Moreno on Kochanski's cell
phone and told jurors they tried to persuade him to come out peacefully.
They testified that they also were trying to stall Moreno to gain more
time for the department's SWAT team to arrive and handle negotiations.
Moreno eventually demanded that his girlfriend call him in five minutes
or he would stab himself or come outside and "rush" officers and force
them to shoot him, Sgt. Michael Glider testified.
Man held knife to throat
Three to four minutes later, Moreno did come outside, at first holding
the knife to his throat, officers testified. It had a blade 6 to 8
inches long.
He later lowered the knife but ignored officers' commands to drop it and
surrender, officers said. He tried to go back into the building but the
door had locked behind him, and then he began focusing on Helm, Officer
Kimberly Friese testified.
A police dog and its trainer arrived and were getting prepared to help
when a sergeant fired the bean bag round, and seconds later Helm shot
Moreno, Friese said.
Friese said she, too, had her M-16 rifle trained on Moreno. But unlike
Helm, she said she chose not to fire because she wanted to give her
peers a chance to fire another bean bag round from a more effective
distance.
Officers testified that the bean bags were best shot at a distance of
less than 75 feet away, but they had fired it from 90 to 100 feet to try
to distract Moreno and protect Helm.
The inquest is to continue today.
Appeared in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel on July 11, 2002.
kodiakfi...@gmail.com
tesla sTinker
nation called the United States, and no, they should be expelled not to
mention, charged with being a fucking nazi liar. There is only one
declaration of independence. It preludes the US Constitution. Which
means, anyone wanting to live in this these United States of America,
has to be in complete compliance with the declaration of independence,
not to mention, the US Constitution. So far, we are well on our way to
a war that is going to shock the shit out of the nazi liberals of this
nation. For when the militia kicks in, it will remove such trash point
blank, bullet between the eyes, and that will be the end of it.
No need to ask them their name. For God will not have them, why should
we. These kinds are inside the police force all the way from Florida,
to the state of Alaska, and vice a versa, Maine to Mexico. Its time to
remove them. And any judge who is kkk with them. They burn the cross of
christ, and celebrate christmas, at the same time. This is what a
communist is. Social networks are harboring these criminals that wear
badges. So its not like the militia, does not know where to start.
On 12/28/2018 11:18 PM, kodiakfi...@gmail.com scribbled: