Dash Cam Officer Involved Fatal Shooting Eau Claire Wisconsin

Eau Claire Wisconsin -- An internal review by Eau Claire Police released Tuesday confirmed the amount of force used by one of its officers used justified in a shooting on the city’s southwest side earlier this year.In the report, it says Officer Kristopher O’Neill was the only officer to confront 49-year-old Matthew Zank in the parking lot of the Scottish Inns and Suites on the early morning of Jan. 28th. When he arrived, he noticed Zank had a gun in his hand – identified as a .177 caliber air-powered handgun – as he stood in the hotel parking lot.

O’Neill readied his squad rifle and ordered Zank seven times to obey commands to drop his weapon. The report states Zank replied “No I will not.” and continued to walk towards O’Neill.

O’Neill then fired his rifle four times at Zank, with at least one shot hitting Zank. Medical personnel arrived within minutes of the shooting, but Zank was pronounced dead at the scene.

Earlier this month, Eau Claire District Attorney Gary King ruled Officer O’Neill was justified in his use of deadly force in the incident. The report released Tuesday states time as one reason for the force. Less than 20 seconds elapsed from the time O’Neill’s squad car stopped to when his first shot was fired.

According to the report, “O’Neill not only wouldn’t have had time to obtain and utilize a less lethal weapon (taser, pepper spray) he has been instructed for nearly twenty years that a suspect approaching with a firearm that is not compliant, refusing tom obey commands, and represents a risk of great bodily harm to himself or others should be stopped by use of deadly force.

The report offers details into Zank’s history, in which the Eau Claire Police Department had 21 documented incidents involving Zank between Jan. 11, 2009 and the morning of the incident. The last case happened on Jan. 13 – a little more than two weeks before the shooting – stating had made suicidal comments to Northwest Connections staff while he was at Sacred Heart Hospital.

Zank had rented a room at Scottish Inns and Suites and it was reported he made the initial 911 call to Eau Claire Police on the morning of Jan. 28th, stating a “man with a gun.”

During the investigation after Zank’s death, a handwritten note was found in his wallet, saying: “To the cop that shoot me I am sorry that I made you do it do not feel bad my life was worth lesses (sic).”