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The Milwaukee police officer who killed Dontre Hamilton in Red Arrow Park is believed to be the first officer in the city fired as a result of a fatal on-duty shooting in at least 45 years.

Even the two Milwaukee officers criminally charged in fatal shootings since 1968 — one on duty, one off — were not fired from the Police Department.

Hamilton, who was unarmed and had a history of paranoid schizophrenia, was killed by Milwaukee officer Christopher Manney on April 30.

Manney did not use excessive force when he shot Hamilton 14 times, Milwaukee police Chief Edward Flynn said; rather, the officer was fired because he did not follow department rules in the moments leading up to the shooting, resulting in a struggle that left deadly force as the officer's only option.

"Now, officer-created jeopardy is a term that has real meaning in the training circles of police departments around the country," Flynn said during a news conference announcing Manney's termination. "...Officers, in their use-of-force (training), are taught not to create circumstances that place them at a situation where they have no choice."

Both Manney and Milwaukee police union President Mike Crivello, in written statements, said it was "unprecedented" to fire an officer for that reason.

"Our officers are expected to answer the call, to run toward the sound of gunfire, to intervene when called. The chief is now demanding otherwise — he is confused," Crivello said

Since Flynn became chief in 2008, officers have been involved in at least two other fatal shootings that raised questions about whether they acted appropriately before discharging their weapons. None was terminated from the Police Department.

Flynn's about-face in the Hamilton case comes amid heightened scrutiny of officer-involved shootings nationwide, sparked by large protests in Ferguson, Mo. In Wisconsin, Hamilton's death is the first to be investigated under a new law that requires an outside agency to lead the criminal review of any officer-involved death.

Shot 27 times in an attic

The investigation into a December 2010 case in which officers shot a man 27 times after they found him hiding under insulation in an attic crawl space — and one officer mistakenly shot another in the buttock — was conducted by the Police Department's internal affairs division.

Here is how the incident unfolded, according to internal affairs records:

A woman called police, saying she believed her daughter's father, Dionne Brown, was hiding in her attic, perhaps with a knife. Brown, who was homeless and wanted on felony charges, said he would not cooperate with being arrested, the woman told police.

Brown, 29, refused to come out, so Officer Chad Wilson climbed onto a chair and crawled into the attic, where he saw the insulation moving. A butcher knife and some missing Christmas presents were nearby. The officer poked the insulation with his baton, causing Brown to lift his head and exclaim, "You broke my nose!"

By this time, Officer Scott Wilson, responding to a call for backup, had joined his colleague in the attic, which was lighted only by their flashlights and had no flooring except narrow boards. Brown turned toward them and reached under the insulation, the officers told internal investigators. He refused to show his hands and "lunged" toward them. Fearing he had a gun or another knife, both officers opened fire.

"There was no cover available to the officers and escape was not safely accessible," the internal affairs report says.

Brown had no weapon.

Officer Chad Wilson, caught in the line of fire, was shot in the left buttock.

Shooting ruled self-defense

In January 2009, then-officer Anthony Bialecki fatally shot an unarmed man, Domonick Washington, who was the passenger in a car that was pulled over for signaling left but turning right. Bialecki told investigators that as he and his partner approached the car, Washington's movements led them to believe he was trying to hide drugs. As they searched Washington, he struggled and tried to run away.

Washington, 26, punched and kicked the officers, according to police reports. Bialecki told investigators he shot Washington at close range in the chest because he appeared to be reaching for his waistband. Bialecki said he feared Washington had a gun.

Marijuana was later found in the car.

The driver, Deanna Abbott, told police she saw the officers punch Washington, according to police reports. She said Washington was on the ground and Bialecki was on top of him when the fatal shot was fired. Afterward, an officer pointed a gun at her and told her to stay put, she said.

The shooting was ruled self-defense. Bialecki was not disciplined or criminally charged. A few months later, he injured his shoulder while chasing a suspect, according to court records.

Last year, Bialecki was caught illegally buying 20 Percocet pills from a police informant. He pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor, was fined $500 and retired on duty disability.

'Totality' of circumstances

Manney also has applied for duty disability, saying the Red Arrow Park shooting and its aftermath resulted in severe post-traumatic stress disorder. He joins a growing number of officers suspected of misconduct who have applied for duty disability claiming debilitating stress, sometimes even citing the department's investigation or media coverage as the cause of that stress.

If approved, Manney's retirement — which would include about 75% of his salary, tax-free — will take precedence over his dismissal because he applied two days before he was fired.

In announcing Manney's termination, Flynn said he considered the "totality of the circumstances" surrounding the officer's interaction with Hamilton, including the fact that Hamilton was killed.

The incident began when workers at the nearby Starbucks called police to complain about Hamilton, 31, sleeping in the park. A pair of officers checked on him and found he was doing nothing wrong.

Manney, the beat officer in the area, was not aware the other officers already had been to the park when he retrieved a voice mail regarding Hamilton's presence there. Instead of following his training about how to deal with emotionally disturbed people, Manney came up behind Hamilton, placing his hands under Hamilton's arms and on his chest in what Flynn described as an "out of policy pat-down." Manney had no reason to believe Hamilton was dangerous, Flynn said. Rather, the officer made assumptions based on his perceptions that Hamilton was mentally ill and homeless.

Hamilton's family has acknowledged he suffered from mental illness, but said he was not homeless.

"This is not a call of a mentally ill man waving a gun," Flynn said. "This is not a call of a mentally ill man threatening to kill other people. This is a check the welfare call. Tactics matter. Approach matters. And again, if the outcome had been benign, we'd be looking at a training issue. But the outcome matters."

Milwaukee is behind the curve in taking that approach.

The method of reviewing the entirety of an incident, not just the split-second decision to use deadly force, has been practiced for more than two decades in some departments around the country, according to Lorie Fridell, an associate criminology professor at the University of South Florida and use-of-force expert.

It has become more widespread over the past 10 years.

"Many departments, when they do their internal review, focus on the full encounter to include the decisions the officer made that might increase or decrease the likelihood of facing death or serious bodily harm at the end," Fridell said.

After the 2011 death of Derek Williams in Milwaukee police custody — a case in which no officers were disciplined or criminally charged, despite an inquest jury's recommendation for charges — protesters took to the streets, demanding Flynn resign or be fired.

Instead, Flynn created a critical incident review board to evaluate incidents in which citizens are injured or killed by police officers. The goal of the board, which consists of Milwaukee police personnel, is to improve policies, procedures and training.

In Hamilton's case, the department went a step further, using the same approach to determine officer discipline.

Fatal shootings studied

Earlier this year, proponents of the law to require outside investigations of deaths in police custody, working with its co-sponsor, state Rep. Garey Bies (R-Sister Bay), researched officer-involved deaths around the state.

They found only one in which an on-duty fatal shooting was not quickly deemed justified. It occurred in Sauk County in 1986.

Officer John Mueller, then 40, shot John Graham, 49, twice in the head after arresting him for marijuana possession, according to news reports at the time. Graham was handcuffed and facedown on the ground when the fatal shots were fired.

Mueller was arrested almost immediately and charged with first-degree murder. The officer, who had been hired despite a previously diagnosed mental illness, pleaded not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect and was committed to a mental institution.

In Milwaukee County, charges have been filed in fatal police shootings just twice over the past 46 years, both by former District Attorney E. Michael McCann.

In 1979, McCann prosecuted former Milwaukee police officer Thomas Grady for shooting Daniel Bell in the back in 1958. Exonerated within days of the shooting, Grady soon resigned from the department. He pleaded guilty to reckless homicide and perjury only after his partner came forward two decades later and said Grady planted a knife in Bell's hand.

Grady, who was on duty, used racial slurs both before and after firing the shots that killed Bell, his partner said.

In 2005, off-duty Milwaukee officer Alfonzo Glover fired 19 shots at Wilbert Prado after an apparent road rage incident.

Glover, on his way home from work, was not in uniform and not driving a squad car when Prado began tailgating him and flashing his lights, according to Glover's version of events. Prado then pulled onto a side street, and Glover followed. Prado had gotten out of his car and was running away when Glover shot him.

Eight bullets hit Prado, most of them in the back. Glover was suspended by the department. McCann charged him with first-degree intentional homicide and six counts of perjury. Within hours of being charged, Glover committed suicide.

Manney's case is distinctive from both of those in that he was on duty, unlike Glover, and internal investigators determined he did not act with malice, unlike Grady.

No charging decision yet

District Attorney John Chisholm, who took over from McCann in 2007, has not yet decided whether to charge Manney.

Chisholm previously said he is seeking opinions from outside experts on the use of force before reaching a decision.

Daniel Blinka, a Marquette University law professor and former Milwaukee County assistant district attorney, said Chisholm is facing a difficult decision.

"The D.A. is likely most strongly looking at self-defense," Blinka said.

That's because, at the time the fatal shots were fired, Hamilton had grabbed Manney's baton and hit him in the neck with it.

Police officers are held to the same self-defense standard as anyone else, said Blinka, who stressed he had not had any contact with prosecutors regarding the Hamilton case. The key is whether an individual believed that his or her life was in immediate danger and that deadly force was necessary.

Manney told internal investigators he did believe those things.

If prosecutors could prove such a belief was not reasonable, they could pursue a charge of second-degree intentional homicide, Blinka said.

"For that, you would need to prove... that no reasonable person in the officer's shoes would have believed those things: that he was in danger and that deadly force was necessary," he said.

Under self-defense guidelines, even if it turns out there was no real threat, someone could still have "perfect self-defense because I actually believed I was in danger and any reasonable person in my situation would have believed the same thing, (even though it) turns out we were wrong," Blinka said.

Flynn, who has faced rancor from rank-and-file officers for terminating Manney, wouldn't say what he thought Chisholm should do, but noted he didn't think criminal charges were the only option.

Said Flynn: "There's got be a way for us to hold ourselves accountable absent putting cops in jail for making mistakes."