A Use of Force Review Team found Appleton Police Lt. Jay Steinke was "justified as trained" in a fatal shooting at Jack's Apple Pub in May.
The team, which consisted of Appleton Police officers and the assistant city attorney, released a detailed report Friday on how it came to that decision.
During the May incident, Lt. Jay Steinke shot and killed an unarmed man, Jimmie Montel Sanders, but was trying to shoot a different man, Henry Nellum.
Nellum allegedly fired shots earlier in the night at the bar, and was running towards Lt. Steinke with a gun when he entered the bar that night, according to court documents.
The report included an excerpt from Lt. Steinke's description of the events, where he said:
“…because additional people keep coming out, extremely emotional, pointing inside, “He’s
shooting, their shooting,” um, I then make the decision that it’s an active shooter. I’ve got to get
in to stop whatever’s happening inside. Um, so I, I enter from the west door over here and as I’m
entering, I’m trying to see as much as I can because the door’s already open. The door’s propped
open with one of those rubber stoppers. Um, and I can’t see anybody with a gun, ah, in this
immediate area. I then step into the doorway…and, um, I don’t see anybody with a gun here and,
as I get in, I can see what to me is gun smoke in the air in the lighting. There was small lighting
in there and then there’s a guy right in front of me, 10 to 15 feet away, and I look into his hand,
and he’s got a gun in his left hand, and he’s moving towards me, and I’m in, in my mind,
immediate danger. He’s got the weapon, intent, and delivery system.”
Outagamie County District Attorney Carrie Schneider previously said Lt. Steinke will not face criminal charges.
According to the review team, a person's use of deadly force is justified if a person causes an imminent threat by showing intent through words or actions, displaying a weapon and showing ability to use the weapon.
Officers are allowed to use force to achieve and maintain control of resistive subjects, to defend themselves or to prevent escapes, the team wrote in its review.
The review team found Lt. Steinke was up to date with his required firearms training and was acting within the scope of his authority when shooting. It also found he had legal justification to make contact with Henry Nellum.
Ultimately, the team said Lt. Steinke was justified because his perception of the threat was reasonable and there was no other way for him to stop the threat or give a verbal warning.
Lt. Steinke's use of deadly force was found to be "objectively reasonable" and in compliance with the law by the Use of Force Review Team.
Henry Nellum pleaded not guilty to a felony murder charge in the shooting. He's accused of firing the gunshot inside the bar that led to the police being called and eventually to Sanders being shot, according to court documents.
Sanders was described as an innocent bystander.
The full review is posted below:
