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2 police officers shot and injured in Wisconsin, suspect in custody

Officers' injuries not life-threatening
Posted at 5:26 AM, Nov 06, 2020
and last updated 2020-11-06 12:31:56-05

DELAFIELD, Wis. — A suspect accused of shooting two police officers in Delafield early Friday has been taken into custody, police say.

Police said they had not conclusively concluded the identity of the suspect, but he appeared to match the description of Nathanael Benton, 23.

Earlier Friday, police said a suspect, identified as Benton, was still at large and considered armed and dangerous. Police say he is also wanted for an incident in North Dakota.

Two officers were shot just after 1:30 a.m. Friday in Delafield, police said.

Residents in Delafield were being asked to avoid the area of Highway 83 and Golf Road.

Delafield police said two officers, one from Delafield police and the other from Hartland police, were responding to a call for service regarding a hit-and-run crash at the Holiday Inn Express and shots were exchanged between the suspect and the officers. The officers were injured.

The injured officers were taken to an area hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

Fargo Police Department have been searching for Benton since Nov. 1 in relation to another incident. On their Facebook page, the department said "thoughts and prayers" were with the injured officers in Delafield and Hartland.

2 officers shot in Delafield, police search for suspect

An emergency alert was sent to Waukesha County area residents just before 4:30 a.m. Friday, urging them to avoid the area and to take shelter if they lived in the immediate area.

WisDOT said both eastbound and westbound lanes of I-94 at WIS 83 were closed. The lanes reopened just before 9:30 a.m. Friday.

Hartland Lakeside School District said schools will be closed Friday due to the ongoing search for the suspect. The district sent an email to families Friday morning say there would be no virtual classes and that school would resume on Monday, Nov. 9.

"Please keep your own children inside today until the suspect at large has been taken into police custody. Our thoughts and prayers are with the police officers and their families," said Nancy Nikolay, the HLSD superintendent.

Lake Country School announced Friday morning that it was delaying school for two hours.

Lake Country School District said it would delaying school and bus routes by two hours.

Pewaukee schools announced that schools would be closed, for both virtual students and in-person.

This story was originally published by WTMJ in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.