The Department of Justice released its report on the December 5, 2015 officer-involved shooting death of Michael Funk on Friday, containing about 1,500 pages of information, hours of video and thousands of pictures.
The never-before-seen video shows the moments leading up to Funk's shooting, including when officers attempted to enter Eagle Nations Cycle shortly before.
Officers received word that the hostage-taker, later identified as Brian Flatoff, claimed he would start shooting in one minute, according to the report. That's when the Neenah Police Department organized a "hasty team," an immediate reaction team for critical incidents, to enter the store through the back door.
When they entered, police announced their entrance and were then shot at by Flatoff, which is shown in multiple videos in the DOJ report. Officer Hoffer of Neenah PD was struck in the helmet.
According to the report, officers said everyone inside the store seemed calm. This led them to believe that it was an ambush situation on officers, not a hostage situation.
The report and video later describe the shooting of Michael Funk, where officers said they believed they were still in danger and in an ambush situation. Officers saw Funk run out the back door and then saw he was holding a gun, according to the report. Because officers believed he was the shooter who was targeting them, two decided to shoot as Funk turned toward them.
One video from an officer's body cam shows another officer expressing concern over the fact that Officer Hoffer was shot in the head. The unnamed officer tells him it's worrisome in case he shoots someone, to which Hoffer replys, "I did."
The report said that it took 45 minutes for officers to get Funk's body out of the alley behind the store because they feared they were still in an ambush situation and did not want to put anyone in harm's way.
You can view the full report here: https://www.doj.state.wi.us/dci/officer-involved-critical-incident
