Attorney Craig Mastantuono is an often-quoted source of information on the criminal justice system, and particularly knowledgeable on the intersection of criminal justice and mental health. When a 24-year-old man was shot by Milwaukee Police in February, the Journal Sentinel contacted Craig for his insight into how police handled their interactions with the mentally ill man. Read the full article below, or on the Journal Sentinel's website:

Milwaukee man killed in police shooting had threatened church day before

David Clare, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

The day before a Milwaukee man shot and injured a police officer and was killed in return fire, he attempted to enter a Milwaukee church to rid the church of “evil” and threatened to kill people, police records show.

Milwaukee police shot and killed Isaiah Stott, 24, on Feb. 12 after he was seen walking with a gun and firing it for multiple blocks along Wisconsin Avenue and shot an officer. That incident came less than a day after he was considered by police to be emotionally distressed, during a troubling interaction with staff from Evolve Church, in the northwest part of the city, but was cleared by police.

Milwaukee Police Department call records show security for Evolve Church contacted police in response to Stott asking to enter the church, saying he had a gun and that God told him “he needs to protect the church from whatever evil is coming.”

Stott told the security officer the CIA had tapped his phone and, about 10 minutes later, the security guard said Stott had made threats to kill others.

Once police arrived, they deemed him to be emotionally disturbed, but they found no gun. A spokesperson for the Milwaukee Police Department said on Monday the department’s Crisis Assessment Response Teams, known as CART, responded to the situation as well.

The team conducted a crisis assessment of Stott and determined he did not meet the state legal requirements for what’s called a Chapter 51 hold, or an involuntary 72-hour mental health hold for those who are deemed a threat to themselves or others. Stott was released that day, police said.

"A crisis assessment was conducted ... however, the individual did not meet the criteria for a Chapter 51. A firearm was not located and (he) was released," Milwaukee police said.

Theron Rogers, the head of security at Evolve Church, told the Journal Sentinel on Tuesday he didn't believe his interaction with Stott would be enough to justify an involuntary hold, but it still concerned him.

He described the man as "manic" and dealing with mental health issues. It put church security on alert for future incidents, as Stott told responders he intended to return for a church service, Rogers said.

"Everything... was concerning enough to make us concerned about an active shooter type threat an issue," Rogers said.

What occurred at Evolve Church was recorded in police records called CAD logs and given to the Journal Sentinel in response to a records request. “CAD” stands for computer-aided dispatch. It is a type of software program used by 911 operators to prioritize calls, record information and dispatch responders on the ground accordingly.

Less than 24 hours later, Stott roamed Milwaukee streets during a snowstorm while armed with a semi-automatic rifle, firing it seemingly without purpose. Soon, he would fire at police, injuring 34-year-old Daniel Gonzales.

Not long after, a 37-year-old police officer shot and killed Stott, who would have turned 25 on Feb. 20.

Stott had no criminal record and was a former member of the U.S. Marines Corps. He was discharged early, with the military branch saying in an email it was "indicative that the character of his service was incongruent with Marine Corps' expectations and standards." Stott received medals during his tenure with the Marines as well.

In the days prior to his death, the 24-year-old had also posted a series of videos to social media rambling about various topics. In one, he discussed how his name would be involved in some “dumb shit” soon and “don’t be surprised.”

The Oak Creek Police Department is investigating the police shooting of the suspect. Any recommended charges would be referred to the Milwaukee County District Attorney, who would make a charging decision.

The previous interaction with police raises questions over whether more should have been done at that time and if it could’ve prevented a deadly interaction. It’s a set of questions that benefit from knowing the ultimate result, said Craig Mastantuono, a Milwaukee criminal defense attorney.

“Different people will look at the law and a set of facts and read it differently, especially with a hindsight analysis,” he said.

Wisconsin state law determines whether a involuntary hold is allowed

How Milwaukee police respond to situations like this are dictated by department policy and explains when enacting an involuntary hold is justified.

The policy details the legal standards for emergency detention.

The statute has four stipulations for taking someone into custody, each requiring "substantial probability" they will occur, and requires at least one is met: harm or threats of it to oneself; harm to others or threats of it; physical impairment due to impaired judgment; and behavior that shows the person may not be able to satisfy their basic needs.

Milwaukee police did not answer a question on whether responding officers referred Stott to other services. However, the department policy outlines options for when a hold is deemed unnecessary and notes alternative options, like usage of the CART team, which focuses on the utilization of voluntary options for people it interacts with, including “referrals to other mental health resources.”

The CART team is a collaboration between the police and Milwaukee County's Behavioral Division and includes a police officer and a licensed clinician

The policy also outlines why the hold is not used lightly.

“To protect personal liberties, no person who can be treated adequately outside of a hospital institution or other inpatient facility may be involuntarily treated in such a facility," the policy reads. "If a subject does not appear to be acutely mentally ill and exhibits an ability and willingness to cooperate with voluntary treatment, a 'substantial probability of physical harm' may not exist and an emergency detention may not be necessary.”

Mastantuono reviewed the police records from the church upon the Journal Sentinel's request. He said a legal basis could likely be argued for enacting an involuntary hold.

But he said the CART team’s decision to not do so then offers a new question: what other interventions could have occurred? Mastantuono offered voluntary admittance to mental health services as an example.

Cases like Stott's are not uncommon.

A U.S. Department of Justice presentation said 6% to 10% of police contacts involve people with mental illness and one in four victims of police shootings have serious mental health issues.

Locally, Mastantuono estimated half of his cases involve mental health crises and are increasingly complicated by the proliferation of firearms and lack of available mental health resources in recent years.

That puts pressure on police to respond to incidents like this.

“The criminal justice system tends to become a repository for a community response for what really should be going on in the civil, mental health and public health spaces,” Mastantuono said. “I think this is tragic, and it shouldn’t have happened and that doesn’t mean that anybody’s to blame."

The church security guard Rogers said he shared frustration with those who believe Stott should have been placed in an involuntary hold, however, he had empathy for the decision not to as well.

The situation offers the chance to critique the systems in place, he said.

"I can imagine (Milwaukee police) get 100s of calls a week where somebody is dealing with a mental health issue," Rogers said. "It ends up rising up to nothing ... but those individuals still need attention, right?"

Family saw Stott that day: ‘We didn’t understand the gravity of the situation’

Stott’s father, Walter Stott, told the Journal Sentinel the day after his son was killed, that Isaiah was having a “religious transformation” of sorts, which was becoming "delusional."

Walter Stott, who apologized for his son's actions previously, declined to speak with the Journal Sentinel on Monday regarding what happened at the church.

Walter Stott said he believed his son had started frequently attending a Catholic Church but didn’t know which one. Isaiah’s father said his son went to that church — he believed on Monday — and “whatever he did or whatever he said the people at the church called for a welfare check” to be conducted on his son.

Records now confirm that call was made Tuesday and not for a welfare check. Walter Stott said his son had been at his home on Tuesday, telling the Journal Sentinel it didn’t look like his son had slept in days and his mother was trying to get him to eat.

Given Isaiah’s father knew about the incident at the church, it would appear he went to his parents’ house following the incident at the church.

“We didn’t understand the gravity of the situation,” Walter Stott said. “We just knew he wasn’t the same.”

MC&T will continue to follow this story and others that our team members are involved in.