Milwaukee, WI – A week after Wauwatosa police killed Alvin Cole, a 17-year-old Milwaukee resident, the Wauwatosa Police Department claimed that he fired a gun before he was murdered by one of their officers back on the evening of February 2. The information about Cole discharging a weapon was not contained in any of the earlier news reports despite its significance to the ongoing investigation, which is being conducted by the Milwaukee Police Department. This is the first public statement put out by Wauwatosa police since the killing.

“What is clear and not a matter of dispute is that the deceased fired his weapon before the police officer fired theirs,” said Wauwatosa Police Chief Barry Weber.

During the press briefing, Chief Weber introduced a photo of the firearm that the police allege was found at the scene, and a video from the dashboard cams in two squad cars was shown. Weber also claimed that authorities found an extended magazine with 35 rounds in Cole’s bag.

In the low-quality video, police say five gunshots can be heard, the first of which is supposedly Cole firing the 9mm semi-automatic from the photo. As proof of this, Chief Weber explained that the crime lab discovered a spent shell casing inside the chamber of the weapon they claim Cole fired. The next four are the shots from the officer that took Cole’s life.

Nothing from the video that was shown could be described as conclusive. It’s hard to differentiate the sounds on the inside of the vehicle from what’s happening on the scene outside. Wauwatosa police officers don’t wear body cams, so the view that is presented in the video is at least 30 feet from where the murder takes place.

Something pointed out by Christopher Storm, a local private investigator who has been involved in documenting the police and challenging their narratives when they’ve committed crimes, puts into question the story that Wauwatosa police are rolling out.

“The weapon [in the photo] appears to have the safety in the ‘on’ position, meaning the gun would not fire,” Storm said. “The gun has no magazine or clip in it. The crime lab could not find a ‘spent casing inside the chamber,’ as a semi-automatic will eject the casing to prepare for the next firing and send the spent casing flying out and to the side. Something is wrong, if this is Alvin Cole’s gun.”

Stretching the truth and presenting false evidence to exonerate killer cops is something that police departments everywhere do. With this being the fifth death at the hands of a police officer in five years, this is old hat for the Wauwatosa Police Department. Leaving the investigation in the hands of the Milwaukee police simply adds to the initial causes for concern that justice will be denied to Cole, his family and his friends. The community is outraged and are demanding justice.

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