Kaukauna police officer shoots man in car while investigating runaway

KAUKAUNA, Wis. (WBAY) - A man is in the hospital after a Kaukauna police officer shot him Wednesday night as officers investigated a report of a runaway.

According to Kaukauna police: Officers were sent to the 500-block of Diedrich St. to look for a juvenile runaway around 8 o’clock. They were told the runaway might be in a stolen car with an unidentified man.

Police say when officers observed the stolen car arriving and were trying to talk to the people inside. That’s when an officer fired their gun, hitting the driver. Police immediately administered first aid until the driver was transported to a hospital. He’s identified only as a 28-year-old man from Oshkosh. We’re told his condition is stable.

The Appleton Police Department is investigating the shooting -- collecting evidence and conducting interviews. State law requires outside agencies to investigate an officer-involved shooting.

The officer who fired their weapon was placed on administrative leave, which is standard procedure, pending the conclusion of the investigation.

Action 2 News was on the scene Wednesday night as the Wisconsin State Patrol, Outagamie County Sheriff’s deputies, and Kaukauna Police taped off an area of Diedrich, Joyce and Margaret streets and asked people to avoid the area. Kaukauna police posted on social media that there was no threat to the public.

A red car was towed from the scene around 4:20 a.m., and its trunk was slightly open. Once it was towed, police took down the yellow tape from the neighborhood and left after an 8-hour police presence. We walked up to the curb and saw broken glass on the ground.

Around 6:30 in the morning, we saw a pair of Appleton police cars come into the neighborhood, and officers escorted a person into one of the homes.

The shooting happened right across the street from a school bus stop. One mother dropping off her children for school told us she received a scary phone call from her 12-year-old Wednesday night.

“He said that there were older ladies crying. They were scared, the gunshot, and it must have been like, bullets flying everywhere. It’s scary, especially since you don’t know what’s going on or who are your neighbors,” Denise Albarran said.

Anyone with information about the incident is asked to contact the Appleton Police Department at (920) 832-5500.

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