Police Brutality / Individual record
Jay Anderson
The Washington Post's Fatal Force database records Jay Anderson in a fatal on-duty police shooting on 2016-06-23 in Wauwatosa, WI. Individual circumstances and legal outcome require case-specific review.
- Record ID
- PB-459
- Incident date
- June 23, 2016
- Outcome
- Fatal
- Location
- Wauwatosa, WI
- Agency
- Wauwatosa Police Department
- Category
- Fatal on-duty police shooting
- Age (reported)
- 25
What happened
Jay Anderson Jr., 25, was shot and killed by Wauwatosa police Officer Joseph Mensah in Madison Park, Wisconsin, on June 23, 2016. Anderson's family said he had been sleeping in his car when Mensah approached. Mensah said Anderson repeatedly lowered his hands toward a firearm despite commands, prompting the fatal shots. Milwaukee County prosecutors initially declined charges in December 2016. After his family pursued a special judicial review, a judge found probable cause in 2021, but appointed special prosecutors subsequently concluded the evidence would not support prosecution. Police video, the family's challenge to the officer's account and the differing charging reviews are central to the case. No criminal conviction of Mensah resulted from this shooting.
Investigation & findings
Individual legal and investigative outcome not yet reviewed.
Washington Post Fatal Force v2; 2015–2024
Source record details
- Source incident ID
- 1648
- Race code in source
- B
- Race source method
- not_available
- Gender (source)
- male
- Armed status (source)
- gun
- Flee status (source)
- not
- Agency IDs (source)
- 652
Sources & records
- Primary source
- Additional source
- Methodology and national police killings trackingMapping Police Violence · Dataset/methodology
- Fatal Force v2 — fatal on-duty police shootings, 2015–2024The Washington Post · Dataset