$1.5M bail set for Nathaneal Benton
DELAFIELD, Wis. (FOX6) – A man charged with attempted murder in Fargo and accused of shooting two police officers in Wisconsin appeared in court Monday.
Bond for Nathanael Benton was set at $1.5 million.
Benton faces two counts of first-degree intentional homicide (use of a dangerous weapon) and one count of possession of a firearm by out-of-state felon, repeater.
According to the criminal complaint, around 1:40 a.m. officers from the City of Delafield and Village of Hartland responded to a possible hit-and-run crash at the Holiday Inn in the City of Delafield.
While on scene, officers made contact with an individual, later identified as Nathanael Benton from Fargo, North Dakota, outside of the Holiday Inn. Benton was accompanied by a 29-year-old woman and a 30-year-old man, both from Warsaw, Indiana.
Upon officers meeting and speaking with Benton and the woman, Benton produced a handgun and fired multiple shots at two uniformed police officers, striking both of them.
According to the complaint, body cameras show one officer performing a frisk for weapons on Benton just prior to the shooting. The video shows the officer standing to the left of Benton and the second officer standing about five to ten feet away. During the pat-down, Benton suddenly makes a motion with his right arm and immediately begins firing a weapon toward both officers at close range.
One officer was struck twice in the back and once in the hip. The other officer was struck in the leg. One officer fired back at Benton as he fled on foot.
Both officers were taken to the hospital with serious but non-life-threatening injuries.
A perimeter was immediately established and a search was conducted. Resources from multiple jurisdictions responded to the area, which included tactical enforcement teams who assisted in the search for Benton.
In a statement released Friday, Benton’s mother said in part: “We are very overwhelmed by all of it. We are sorry for any harm or pain he caused to anyone and are thankful no one else was hurt when they took him into custody.”
