Two recent police shootings in Superior, Wis., have left the small community just across the bridge from Duluth on edge.
In early April, a Superior officer shot and killed David Menton, 42, when trying to locate another person with an arrest warrant. Another officer shot and injured two people in a parking lot Sunday night after the officer was approached by a man wielding a large knife.
“It’s important that each incident be evaluated independently and not be viewed as evidence of a broader pattern or trend without a full understanding of the specific facts and circumstances involved in each case,” Superior Police Chief Paul Winterscheidt said during a Tuesday news conference to provide more information about both shootings.
Police showed three still images from police body-worn camera footage from the Sunday shooting. They also played a blurry, 30-second video clip of the moments that led up to Menton’s killing on April 7.
In that shooting, the video showed Menton walking quickly away from the officer Ibrahim Carson, who repeatedly yells at him to stop. Carson runs and tackles Menton on the doorstep of an apartment building.
The two struggle and Carson yells twice at Menton, on his stomach underneath Carson, to stop resisting.
Menton yells back, “I’m not resisting.” Carson continues telling him to stop resisting and twice tells him to put his hands behind his back.
Menton yells at Carson to get off him. It’s not clear in the blurry video, but Winterscheidt said the officer Carson then shoots Menton in the back of the head.
The whole shooting takes about 30 seconds. Winterscheidt said a gun was recovered underneath Menton’s body.
"Any loss of life in our community is serious. It's not something we take lightly,” Winterscheidt said. “At the same time, it's important to be clear about the circumstances the officers faced. The April 7 officer-involved death involved a violent, armed individual who posed an immediate threat to the life of the police officer."
Menton's mother, Vicky, stood up in the back of the room.
"I want to know the truth,” said Vicky Menton, clad in a black t-shirt depicting her smiling son with angel wings. “He was a very loving, kind human being. He doesn't deserve to die that way.”
"Today is about going to the facts,” Winterscheidt replied.
“Your experience in this is obviously very personal,” Winterscheidt continued. “From the police department's perspective, we are here to serve the community, including everybody who lives in the community. Our officers are not expected to sacrifice their lives in accomplishing that duty.”
After the news conference, Vicky Menton said she wants justice.
"He deserves to go to prison because he killed my son,” she said. “He murdered my son. That's the way I feel about it. Shooting him in the back of his head. How can you do that? When he was already down. How can a police officer do that?"
The Wisconsin Department of Justice on Monday turned over its investigation of the killing to the Douglas County District Attorney's Office, which will determine if any charges will be filed.
The state's justice department is also now investigating Sunday's shooting, in which two Superior police officers responded to a report of a man considering suicide, Winterscheidt said. When they arrived, the man approached one of the officers from behind, holding a large knife.
"So the officer has but a moment to make a decision, a life-or-death decision in that moment,” Winterscheidt said. Neither Winterscheidt nor investigators have released the officer’s name.
The officer shot the man and a woman behind him while firing multiple times. Winterscheidt said the officer didn't appear to see the woman.
Both the man and the woman were injured in the stomach area, Winterscheidt said.
The officers involved in both shootings remain on paid leave while the investigations continue.
The officer from the May 10 shooting has nearly nine years experience. Carson has served nearly two years with the Superior department.
Winterscheidt said the department does everything it can to avoid using force. The more force police use, the less trust there is with the community, he said.
In his 21 years in Superior, he said police shot people during two altercations before last year. Now there have been three shootings in the past six months.
Vicky Menton knows she can’t get her son back. She said she misses his sense of humor, his laughter and his hugs.
“All I want is justice for him and I want to know the truth,” Menton said. “I'm sure God will guide me through.”
