The family of 26-year-old Elijah Wilks, who was fatally shot by an off duty Milwaukee police officer on October 9, has publicly stated that they believe the officer’s actions were justified.
The family’s statement is based on dashcam footage showing Wilks striking the officer with a gun and pointing it at him during a roadside confrontation.
The shooting occurred around 8:30 a.m. on Milwaukee’s northwest side following a minor car crash in a construction zone. The 40-year-old off duty officer, a 21-year veteran of the Milwaukee Police Department (MPD), was involved in the fender-bender.
Dashcam footage obtained by Fox 6 Milwaukee shows Wilks cutting off the officer’s vehicle while merging. After the minor collision, both men pulled over, exited their cars, and began arguing.
According to attorney B’Ivory Lamarr, the exchange escalated when Wilks pulled out a firearm, struck the officer with it, and pointed it at him.
“The video in which myself and his mother watched today is that he did slap the off duty officer with a firearm,” Lamarr said during a Monday news conference reposted by WISN 12 News. “[It] does depict Elijah pointing the firearm at the off duty officer. The off duty officer did respond, we believe, in accordance with his training and did fire off several shots.”
On behalf of Wilks’ family, Lamarr asked the department on Instagram to release the video publicly “not to stir conflict but to bring closure and transparency.”
The footage shows Wilks reappearing on the other side of his vehicle, at which point the officer fired additional shots, striking Wilks multiple times. Wilks died at the scene. While the family expressed concern that the officer did not administer first aid, they confirmed their overall belief that the shooting was justified.
Lamarr described the incident as “unfortunate” and “tragic” but emphasized the family’s commitment to transparency.
“We will acknowledge that we do believe that this officer involved shooting was justified,” he added.
Family members who viewed the footage the day after the shooting expressed grief over Wilks’ death.
“He was a good person … everybody loved my brother,” his sister, Elayjah Wilks, told CBS 58.
His aunt Andrea Ward told Fox 6, “We are all one seat away from making the wrong decision.”
Another aunt, Latrice Bell, stated, per CBS 58, “He made a decision that he should not have made, and that is just something we have to live with. I don’t believe Elijah knew that he was a police officer, but whether it was or wasn’t — the encounter should have been different.”
Under MPD policy, next of kin must be allowed to view body-camera or dash-camera footage within 48 hours of a deadly incident, and relevant footage must be released publicly within 15 days.
The Milwaukee Police Department has not yet released the video to the public.