WAUKESHA COUNTY, Wis. — Two police officers were shot early Friday morning in Wisconsin by a suspect who then fled, according to reports.
The officers were responding to a call of a hit-and-run collision when the suspect opened fire, according to officials and FOX6 News. One of the officers struck was from the city of Delafield and the other from the village of Hartland.
#UPDATE CONT.
-Officers were responding to a hit and run crash.
-Two are in custody related to that incident NOT the shooting.
-The suspect fired at officers and the Delafield officer fired back.
-FBI is also providing resources
-Multiple county agencies & State Patrol here— Amelia Jones (@AmeliaJonesTV) November 6, 2020
As a result, the officers were rushed to an area hospital. Their injuries are described as non-life-threatening injuries, according to the report.
The armed suspect is still on the loose. He is described as a White man who was wearing a hat, a hoodie and khaki pants, the report said.
JUST IN: this alert going out to those in the area of HWY 83 & Golf Rd in Delafield urging to take shelter in the lowest level of your home. https://t.co/Yf6w7HkStL pic.twitter.com/fHRqXrqXNG
— Suzanne Spencer (@suzspencertv) November 6, 2020
The local public was warned in an emergency alert to “avoid the area” of Highway 83 and Golf Road in Delafield because of a “law enforcement incident,” Fox reported.
“If you live in the immediate area, please take shelter in the lowest level of home/business and await the all clear message,” the alert stated.
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UPDATE:
Fargo police, in a Facebook post, said they were notified Friday morning that the shooting in Delafield involved 23-year-old Nathanael Benton, a man wanted in their city for attempted murder, Fox reported.
Update (11/6/20 8:14 a.m.): This morning, we were notified that police in Waukesha County, WI encountered Benton, who is…
Posted by Fargo Police Department on Monday, November 2, 2020
According to Fargo police, a man called police about 2:30 a.m. on Sunday and said he thought he had been shot. He said he had taken a rideshare to Moorhead, Minn., and then experienced head pain.
He returned to Fargo and called police. He was taken to the hospital, where medical personnel found bullet fragments in his head, police said.
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UPDATE:
A man suspected of wounding two police officers in a shooting in Wisconsin on Friday and who is wanted in North Dakota for attempted murder has been arrested following a large-scale manhunt, police said.
Delafield Police Chief Erik Kehl said the man was arrested without resistance in a field not far from the Holiday Inn where the officers were shot in Waukesha County, about 27 miles (43 kilometers) west of Milwaukee, ABC News reported.
Police earlier identified the man as 23-year-old Nathanael Benton, wanted in Fargo for a shooting.
“Yeah, I want this guy,” Kehl told reporters during an impromptu news conference in a nearby parking lot. “I want him in custody. I want him to face justice for what he’s done and then I can tell the community it’s safe.”
Aerial video of the arrest taken by WISN-TV shows the suspect walking across the field near a residential cul-de-sac with his hands up. Several tactical officers with guns trained on him began to close in.
The man drops to his knees, then lies flat on his stomach and puts his hands behind his back. Officers place him in handcuffs and remove his pants for a search.
Law enforcement officers had been looking for the suspect for about nine hours after he fled from the shooting about 1:40 a.m. outside the Holiday Inn, which is less than a mile from where he was arrested.
Kehl said that one of his officers and another from nearby Hartland confronted the man, suspected in a hit-and-run crash, outside the hotel at Interstate 94 and Highway 83.
Shots were exchanged and the two officers were hit, Kehl said. The officers’ wounds are not believed to be life-threatening, the chief said.
Fargo police, in a Facebook post, said they were notified Friday morning that the shooting in Delafield involved Benton, a man wanted in their city for attempted murder.
According to Fargo police, a man called police about 2:30 a.m. Sunday and said he thought he had been shot. He said he had taken a ride share to Moorhead, Minnesota, and then experienced head pain.
He returned to Fargo and called police. He was taken to the hospital, where medical personnel found bullet fragments in his head, police said.