MILWAUKEE (UPDATE 3/13/26 10 a.m.) — The Milwaukee County Medical Examiner has identified the person shot and killed as 35-year-old Jonathan Otto of Germantown.
MILWAUKEE — One person was shot and killed by a Milwaukee Police officer after dragging the officer outside of a tow truck while trying to escape his arrest.
The suspect had been wanted for a parole violation when police and the Department of Corrections found him driving a tow truck near 12th and Burnham March 12.
He was inside a full-sized flatbed tow truck with a passenger in the truck. The officer approached the truck and asked the driver to step outside the car. When the driver refused, the officer attempted to remove him from the truck.
The man then drove off, with the officer clinging to the driver’s side window.
“While the officer was clinging to the suspect and the driver’s side window, the suspect drove the truck for several blocks,” said Milwaukee Police Chief Jeffrey Norman. ”As the officer clung to the side of the truck, the officer gave several commands to the suspect to stop the truck, even informing the suspect that if he did not stop, he would shoot.”
The officer eventually fired at least one shot at the 35-year-old man near S. 15th Street and W. Grant Street. He was taken to Froedtert Hospital where they later died, according to the Milwaukee County Medical Examiner’s Office.
The passenger was not hurt during the shooting, but was taken to the hospital for treatment “transported for medical treatment “out of an abundance of caution”.
The 46-year-old officer with over 21 years of experience was treated for minor injuries, and is on administrative leave. The West Allis Police Department will lead the investigation into the incident.
