| By Big Radio News |
The Rock County District Attorney says a police SWAT commander who fatally shot a Janesville man during an armed standoff March 1 acted lawfully and responsibly.
The D.A.’s office says police body camera footage and other evidence shows Janesville Police Sgt. Jimmy Holford acted “in accordance with his sworn duties” when he ordered another officer to break a window of a house in the 1200 block of North Parker Drive so Holford could use a rifle to shoot 52-year-old Andrew Zigler.
The D.A.’s office says its investigation determined Holford shot Zigler as he was observed by officers “shifting his grip” on a semiautomatic handgun. That was as police say Ziegler had been holding two family members hostage in their family room while waving the handgun at them.
It was during what family members called a “rampage” over Zigler losing his job at food delivery service DoorDash.
Zigler’s family says he’d struggled with long-term mental health problems, and during the standoff March 1, they’d tried to get him to seek help through a Rock County crisis caseworker.
Zigler had hung up on police during a phone call police negotiators made to the home. The D.A.’s office says Zigler told his family his situation was hopeless as he sat on a chair with the gun in his lap. At one point, Zigler stuck the gun in his own mouth repeatedly.
The D.A.’s office says its investigation determined Zigler’s demeanor shifted during the hours-long standoff, with Zigler at times waving the gun and waving his hands frantically as he seemed to become more agitated over police’s attempts to reach family on the phone.
At one point, the report says, as police were monitoring the situation, Zigler began pointing the gun at the two family members he had hostage, and then shifted the gun in his hand as though he intended to fire it.
That’s when the D.A.’s office says Holford gave commands for an officer to shatter a window, and then Holford shot his rifle, hitting Zigler in the abdomen and head with bullets.
When police went in the house, they found him sitting in a chair, dead, apparently killed by police rifle shots to the stomach and head.
The D.A.’s office reports the handgun Zigler had was laying on the floor.
The Rock County D.A.’s investigation came after the state’s Department of Criminal Investigations launched its own probe and turned over the findings to the D.A.
Holford had been on administrative leave during the investigation, which is a standard practice during probes over police-involved shootings.
Janesville Police Chief Chad Pearson has said Janesville police will conduct its own investigation of its practices and processes during the incident once it has learned the state and county’s findings.
The public can access the state’s investigative report once it’s posted. It can be found on the state Attorney General’s web page on police-involved shootings.
