MPD Officer Accused in Sylville Smith Shooting Faces Homicide Charge

MILWAUKEE -- The Milwaukee Police officer accused in the fatal shooting of Sylville Smith in August has been formally charged in court.

Dominique Heaggan-Brown, the Milwaukee Police Officer who shot and killed Smith after a foot pursuit, faces the charge of First-Degree Reckless Homicide. If convicted, Heaggan-Brown could face up to 40 years behind bars and up to 60 years total incarceration.

The shooting of Sylville Smith took place around 3:30 p.m. Saturday Aug. 13. Two officers, one of which was Heaggan-Brown, stopped two suspects driving in the 3200 block of North 44th Street. Shortly after stopping the vehicle, both occupants fled on foot, one armed with a semiautomatic handgun. According to information contained in Heaggan-Brown's criminal complaint, after a foot chase, police body-camera video showed Smith fall to the ground as he approached a chain-link fence between two houses at the end of a foot pursuit.

"The video shows Smith rise back to his feet with the gun still in his right hand and Smith turns his head and upper body towards the officers. He then raises the gun upward while looking in the direction of the officers and throws the gun over the fence into the yard.”

At that point, the complaint states, Heaggan-Brown fired one shot at Smith, knocking him to the ground. Heaggan-Brown then fired a second shot at Smith's chest.

Sherman Park Riots
The fatal police shooting Saturday afternoon set off the violence, which began with people attacking a police car and smashing the windows. A police officer was injured by a flying brick thrown through a squad car window, police said, and the officer was taken to a hospital for treatment.

As night fell, chaos broke out in the north side neighborhood. A gas station at Sherman Boulevard and Burleigh Street was set on fire around 10:15 p.m. The gunshots prevented firefighters from getting close, police said.

By 2 a.m., a liquor store and a grocery store went up in flames. At 1 a.m., shots reportedly were fired at police squad cars at 41st and Burleigh streets. One car was hit by the gunfire. Before midnight, a BMO Harris bank branch a few blocks from the shooting was broken into and set on fire. An O'Reilly Auto Parts store and a beauty supply store also were set on fire. A neighborhood grocery store was broken into and looted.

In the ensuing hours after the shooting, more than two dozen police, some in riot gear, responded to the neighborhood as an angry crowd grew on North 44th Street and West Auer Avenue. Police estimate the crowds grew in size to 800 people.

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