'Do I Shoot?' A Waukesha Police Officer's Split-Second Tale

WAUKESHA, WI — On the night of June 24, a Waukesha police officer faced a split-second decision that some officers face at some point in their career: shoot a potentially-armed suspect, or run the risk that the suspect will pull a gun out and shoot them, or an innocent bystander.

That moment came to reality for Waukesha one Waukesha police officer on what was initially called in as a burglary complaint. It wasn't too much later before 911 callers said the suspect might be armed.

According to Waukesha police call logs, officers were sent to a home on the 400 block of Kimberly Drive just before 7 p.m. on June 24 on a report that Wyatt Padgett was attempting to break into other people's vehicles parked on the street.

Police said they learned from two 911 callers that Padgett was "going to get his gun," and said he was gesturing as though he had a gun — though none was seen by the callers.

One of the Waukesha police officers who was first on the scene that night wrote of his account of the incident.

"I drew my firearm and pointed it at [Padgett], as there was already a mention of [him] possibly being armed and gesturing as if he had a firearm," he wrote in his report. "I pointed it at [him] and began giving him loud verbal commands to stop and get down on the ground."

The officer said Padgett followed directions and laid on the ground. At once, though, police said Padgett "popped up almost immediately," and sat upright where he once lay.

Police said they didn't know whether Padgett had a gun. The officer ran for cover behind a tree and ordered him to lay down on his stomach.

The officer said Padgett stood up and began sprinting toward a woman who was standing on the east side of the street.

At this point, he and his fellow officers had a split-second decision to make: shoot Padgett, who may have a gun, or risk accidentally shooting the woman he was pursuing, Waukesha Police Lieutenant Kevin Rice told Patch.

Based on the moment-to-moment narrative of the police call, Waukesha police officers also had to weigh the chance that Padgett would pull out a gun and shoot the woman he was chasing, or the officers that were chasing him.

According to police reports, officers gave chase as Padgett ran across the street after the woman. Moments later, a neighbor who was standing nearby intercepted Padgett and tackled him to the ground. Once he was tackled, officers engaged in a struggle to arrest Padgett, police said.

"I continued to give [Padgett] loud verbal commands in a heavy control talk to ‘stop resisting,’" the officer wrote. "I was attempting to pull [Padgett's] right arm from underneath his stomach, however, he displayed continued resistance and was counteracting my control efforts. I then administered approximately two hand strikes to [Padgett's] chin area, as it was the only appropriate target area – based on my physical positioning."

Police said several officers managed to get Padgett under control. Once he was arrested, Waukesha police realized only then that he did not have a gun on him, according to reports.

Once he was in custody, police said Padgett made threats to officers that he was going to shoot them, Waukesha police told Patch.

As of Thursday, court records show that Padgett has been charged with disorderly conduct, resisting an officer, bail jumping and two counts of battery to a law enforcement officer. He's being held in the Waukesha County Jail on a $350 cash bond.