Family of Man Shot Dead by Off-Duty Cop Says Video Shows the Cop was Justified | Crime Alert 2PM 10.14.25

Milwaukee police release dashcam video showing the moments before an off-duty officer shot and killed a 26-year-old man in a shootout. Four people are arrested in Mississippi after a homecoming weekend shooting in Leland leaves six people dead and more than a dozen hurt. A former strip-club worker is arrested after police say he grabbed a cheeseburger and threw it from his car, striking a man outside Atlantis Gentlemen’s Club in Largo Florida. Drew Nelson reports.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Crime Alert, hourly update, breaking crime news Now. I'm Drew Nelson.
Milwaukee police released dash cam video showing the moments before
an off duty officer shot and killed a twenty six
year old man in a shootout, and now the man's
family says the officer was justified. The footage shows what
began as a fender bender on Mill Road turning violent
investigator say Elijah Wilkes stepped out of his car and

(00:23):
struck the off duty officer in the face with a gun.
The two then exchanged gunfire. Wilkes was killed at the scene.
The Milwaukee Police Department released a video just four days
after the shooting, well ahead of its fifteen day deadline
for public release. The family of Wilkes requested that the
video be shared early to address what they called misinformation
spreading online. Attorney b Ivory Lamar, who represents the family,

(00:46):
told our TV news partners at Fox six the that's.

Speaker 2 (00:49):
His point of that video is clear. It's within a
few feet away, so again, the proximity is substantially more reliable,
and you can deep in a depicts the details that
are very critical here.

Speaker 1 (01:02):
Lamar said he and Wilkes's mother saw the video for
the first time the day after the shooting.

Speaker 2 (01:07):
When we saw the video for the first time, completely silent,
It was unimaginable. What actually took place is just something
that we just have to take acceptance in accountability for.

Speaker 1 (01:19):
Family members said Wilkes made a fatal mistake. His aunt,
La Tree Spells said, quote my nephew, he made a
decision that he should not have made, and that is
just something we have to live with. Wilkes was reportedly
on his way to his uncle's funeral that morning when
the crash happened. Police said the officer, who is a
forty year veteran of the force, was injured but survived.

(01:39):
Lamar tells WISIN the family's decision to release the footage
was meant to help Milwaukee move forward. More crime and
justice news after this. Four people are arrested in Mississippi
after a homecoming weekend shooting in Leland leaves six people

(02:00):
dead and more than a dozen hert. The FBI says
Tevon L. Powell h twenty nine, William Bryant twenty nine,
and Morgan Latimore twenty five are charged with capital murder.
LaToya A. Powell, forty four, is charged with attempted murder.
Officers say more arrests are expected. The shooting broke out
just before midnight Friday on Main Street in Leland, which
is a small Mississippi Delta town of about thirty six

(02:23):
hundred people. Witnesses said crowds had gathered to celebrate Leland
High School's homecoming when gunfire erupted during a fight. FBI
agents say the shooting quote appears to have been sparked
by a disagreement among several individuals. The violence took the
lives of six people Orishama Johnson h forty one, Calvin
Plant nineteen, Shelby on of Powell twenty five, Caslin Johnson eighteen,

(02:46):
Amos Brantley eighteen, and Jamichael Jones thirty four. Ten others
were wounded. The Leland shooting was the deadliest of three
across Mississippi during homecoming weekend. Two people, including a pregnant woman,
were shot and killed at Heidelberg High School, and another
person died in a separate shooting at Alcorn State University.
Mississippi officials say the state is grieving after a weekend

(03:07):
meant for football and reunions turned into scenes of chaos
and loss. Gregory Robert Whitehead is one of the FBI's
most wanted men for fleeing prosecution after being charged with
sexually exploiting two teenagers in Colorado. Investigators say Whitehead, who
is now sixty three, lured two girls to his home
in October two thousand and seven by offering them work

(03:29):
cleaning his house. Once there, he gave them alcohol, took
nude photos, and paid them for sexual acts. The victims
reported the assaults to the Colorado Springs Police Department. Whitehead
was arrested and charged with sexual exploitation of children, soliciting
for child prostitution, inducement of child prostitution, criminal attempt to
commit sexual assault, and sexual assault. He failed to appear

(03:50):
in court for a hearing January fourth of two thousand
and eight. A state warrant was issued the same day.
On June twenty, sixth of eight, a federal warrant followed
from the USA District Court in Colorado after he was
charged with unlawful flight to avoid prosecution. Whitehead is white,
six two one eighty, blue eyes, and brown fringe, mostly bald,
its cars on his belly and one of his left fingers,

(04:13):
and he may wear glasses or contact lenses. Anyone with
information about his location has urged to contact the FBI
or the nearest American embassy or consulate eight hundred, call
FBI or tips dot FBI dot gov. A former strip
club worker is arrested after police say he grabbed a
cheeseburger and threw it from his car, striking a man

(04:33):
outside Atlantis Gentlemen's Club in Largo, Florida. Vanellas County deputies
booked Jordan Anthony Catto, aged twenty six. The charge listed
on the complaint is simple battery, bond set at one
thousand dollars. The police report says the man quote did
then and there actually and intentionally touch or strike the
victim against the will of the victim, and did cause

(04:54):
bodily harm. It says Kauto went to the club quote
to speak with management and got into a verbal fight.
The report says Kauto quote grabbed a cheeseburger from his
car and hurled it. It says the burger hit the
victim in the left upper shoulder. Quote. The defendant stated
he did throw a cheeseburger from his vehicle to the
victim and stated he would do it again. The smoking
Gun obtained the police report and first reported the case.

(05:17):
Kotto was also arrested last month on a separate matter.
The prior case involved an alleged boat burglary and a
gun that was later sold to a relative for three
hundred dollars. Prosecutors declined to press felony charges in the
prior matter, citing the lack of evidence at the time.
For the latest crime and justice news, follow Crime Alert
early update on your favorite podcast app. But this crime Alert,

(05:39):
I'm Drew Nelson.