The Milwaukee Police Department has released body camera footage from the night fallen police officer Peter Jerving was killed in the line of duty.
The footage, which will be linked here, shows the moments where Officer Jerving and robbery suspect Terrell Thompson fatally shot each other. Viewer discretion is strongly advised.
According to Assistant Chief Paul Formolo, Jerving and his partner responded to West Good Hope Road on Feb. 6 shortly after 11:30 p.m. for report of a robbery, before heading to South 14th Street after report that Thompson and the stolen vehicle may be in the area.
Jerving and his partner located the vehicle they believed to be stolen and approached Thompson, who got out of the vehicle along with a woman. Jerving repeatedly orders Thompson not to run, but he does.
After a foot chase, Jerving’s partner (who has not been identified) is able to tackle Thompson after he slips in the snow. At that point, Thompson draws a gun and begins firing at Jerving, who is arriving on the scene to assist his partner.
In the footage, Jerving is seen reporting to dispatch that shots have been fired, then returning to help his partner try to disarm Thompson. A close-range shootout then occurs and both Jerving and Thompson are hit multiple times by each other’s gunfire. No other weapons were fired.
Thompson died at the scene. Officer Jerving later died at Froedtert Hospital. Both died of multiple gunshot wounds.
The Community Briefing video footage was released to the public nearly two months after the incident. MPD tries to release relevant video footage in the form of the Community Briefing within 45 days of an incident, but there is no policy governing that timeline.
“In this case, given the circumstances, MPD was unable to meet that timeline,” MPD said in a statement Thursday. “The final family notification was completed this afternoon and to be fully transparent to the public, we are releasing the briefing without any further delay.”
Jerving was 37 years old and had served in the Milwaukee Police Department for four years.