JEFFERSON, Wis. — Jefferson County District Attorney Monica Hall says no criminal charges will be filed against the officers who shot and killed a man in Fort Atkinson in December.
Hall announced her decision in a press release Tuesday evening, saying she believes the officers’ actions were “lawful and reasonable acts of defense of self and others.”
State Troopers say they tried to pull over Joseph R. Crawford-Lamal and a passenger in his car on Highway 26 between Watertown and Johnson Creek on December 9th. The car briefly stopped and the passenger ran off while Crawford-Lamal drove off and continued to be chased by the State Patrol.
Authorities say he fired shots at Troopers during the chase, which lasted until Crawford-Lamal hit spike strips and came to a stop. They say Crawford-Lamal got out of the car with a gun and tried to carjack another person before he was shot by three State Troopers. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
“Wisconsin law allows all persons, including police officers, to use deadly force in an act of self-defense or defense of others if the person reasonably believed that he or another person face an unlawful interference that created a risk of death or great bodily harm,” Hall said in a release announcing her decision.
The incident was investigated by the Wisconsin Department of Justice’s Division of Criminal Investigation.
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