Waukesha council honors officers and dispatchers for April 9 shooting response

The Waukesha Common Council on Dec. 3 honored officers and dispatchers who responded to an April 9, 2024 incident at the CarMax on Casa Road, where multiple officers discharged their firearms after a subject ignored commands and adopted a shooting stance, according to a letter read at the meeting.

Lieutenant Kevin Rice read a letter signed by Chief Daniel P. Thompson that detailed the April 9 response. The letter said Officer Brandon Kircher initially located the subject and that Sergeant Cline coordinated a perimeter. When the subject walked away and refused repeated commands to show his hands, officers closed distance; Sergeant Klein deployed a Taser twice without effect. The letter says the subject then knelt in a shooting stance and pointed his hands at officers, prompting multiple officers — listed in the letter as Kircher, Jacob Vile, Justin Murphy and Jorge Arellano — to discharge their firearms "to stop the threat." The letter praised the officers' teamwork and described their actions as being taken out of fear for officer safety.

The letter also commended dispatchers Greg Beals, Calvin Gull and Justin Sobchak for coordinating radio traffic, relaying information and calling additional resources. It noted life-saving measures performed by officers on scene: Officer Jeremy Bausman led CPR and the arrest team while Officer Balsam applied a tourniquet; Officer Matthew Clark performed CPR and operated the AED until firefighters relieved officers.

"Their teamwork and calm voice on the radio assured officers on scene and command with working through the incident and getting necessary resources to the scene," the letter read, concluding with, "Thank you for serving the community with integrity, honor, and courage." Lieutenant Kevin Rice read that passage on behalf of the department.

Mayor Sean Riley thanked the awarded officers and the department, praising their professionalism. No public-comments record or council debate on the substance of the incident appears in the meeting minutes; the presentation was framed as recognition of service and lifesaving efforts.

The council did not take any formal action arising from the presentation; the letter and reading were presented as an awards ceremony during the meeting.

What happens next: the meeting record contains the letter read aloud; the city did not announce additional policy action or investigations in that session. Any administrative or independent reviews, if under way, were not described in the council remarks at this meeting.