Milwaukee police have released a video showing the deadly shooting of 26-year-old Elijah Wilks by an off-duty officer on Oct. 9, and even his own family says after seeing it, they believe the officer’s actions were justified.
The release came unusually fast for the Milwaukee Police Department, but officials said they wanted to be transparent after questions began swirling in the community. The family also wanted the footage shared so people could understand exactly what happened.
The video begins with what appears to be a minor car accident on Mill Road. According to police, Wilks was driving one of the cars involved. Moments later, things escalated. Investigators say Wilks got out of his car and hit the off-duty officer in the face with a gun, leading to a shootout that left Wilks dead.
“The vantage point of that video is clear; it’s within a few feet away, so again, the proximity is substantially more reliable. And it depicts the details that are very critical here,” said B’Ivory Lamarr, the attorney representing Wilks’ family.
Lamarr and the family watched the footage together on Friday. Afterward, they immediately told reporters they felt the officer’s response was justified. “I think that’s critical for healing for this community,” Lamarr said.
Under the Milwaukee Police Department’s new policy, body camera or incident footage must be shown to the family within 48 hours and released publicly within 15 days. In this case, the family viewed the video the day after the shooting, and the department shared it publicly just a few days later.
“He was a good person, like, everybody loved my brother,” said Wilks’ sister, Elayjah.
On Friday, Wilks’ grieving relatives stood together to deliver a heartfelt message. “It could’ve been any one of us, any one of our kids, because we are all one seat away from making the wrong decision,” said Andrea Ward, Wilks’ aunt.
Lamarr described the family’s reaction when they first watched the video. “When we saw the video for the first time, completely silent. You know, it was unimaginable what actually took place,” he said. “We requested to see it a second time, and it’s just something that we have to take acceptance and accountability for.”
He added, “I think it was clear that he definitely brought out the firearm first, and that he violently kind of swung the firearm in the officer’s direction, which resulted in that response. If there is a presence of a firearm and the individual feels like they have their life in jeopardy, I think that in itself satisfies that requirement.”
Another family member, Latric Bell, spoke through tears. “My nephew made a decision that he should not have made. And that is just something we have to live with,” she said.
Wilks’ mother and attorney had initially asked police to delay the video’s release so the family could grieve in private. But after a grainy surveillance video surfaced on YouTube over the weekend that raised speculation about the shooting, they decided it was best to show the full, clear footage.
By Monday, Oct. 13, the family said they wanted to bring clarity and honesty to the public conversation — to let people see what they saw and understand the tragedy for what it was.