MILWAUKEE — The man who shot at police as they tried to serve him an arrest warrant is charged with nine felonies.
35-year-old Keith Jeter made his first appearance in a Milwaukee court on Tuesday, September 10. He’s charged with felonies including 4 counts of attempted 1st-degree intentional homicide using a dangerous weapon, 2 counts of 1st-degree recklessly endangering safety using a dangerous weapon, 2 counts of possessing a firearm as a felon, and bail jumping.
The Milwaukee Police Department’s Special Investigation Division along with officers attached to the US Marshals Service went to serve a bench warrant to Jeter at a set of apartments near 91st and Custer on the morning of Thursday, September 5.
According to the criminal complaint, officers initially knocked on the apartment door but received no answer. Once they gained entry, they found Jeter alone and hiding in a bathroom. Jeter then fired shots multiple shots at the officers. Three officers received graze wounds as they returned fire. Jeter was shot through the upper arm and eventually arrested. Thankfully for the officers, a ballistic shield protected them from much of the gunfire.
The investigation indicated that there were 254 bullet holes and strikes located inside the apartment, along with 2 firearms recovered: a Taurus Millennium G29mm semi-automatic pistol with an extended magazine on the bedroom floor and a Canik 9mm semi-automatic pistol with an extended magazine also recovered on the floor.
In the criminal complaint, Jeter stated that he would rather go to the morgue than to jail and that he knew the police were going to end up coming into his apartment.
Jeter indicated that he was on the phone with his boyfriend and that he told his boyfriend, “No, I promised my mom that if this day comes, I would basically make the police shoot me, you don’t have to do much, just raise a weapon at them, act like you’re going to charge at them, they going to shoot to kill, suicide by cop, I’d rather that then go to jail or prison.”
Jeter stated that he was trying to get the police to shoot him and he doesn’t understand how he is only shot in the arm.
Jeter was previously charged in 2020 with the felony offenses of Possession of a Firearm by a Felon and False Imprisonment, Domestic Abuse – Threat. Jeter failed to appear in court in June 2023 for a Justice Point Violation, which is when the bench warrant was issued. That warrant was active on the day of the shooting: September 5, 2024.
If convicted on all counts, Jeter could receive more than 60 years in prison. He’s currently in custody in the Milwaukee County Jail with bail set at just over $750,000.
