SHAWANO, WI- A Shawano Police Officer actions in an officer involved shooting in the city of Shawano last November were determined justified by the Shawano County Sheriff’s Department and Winnebago County District Attorney Officer investigations.

The incident took place on November 19th, 2022 at a residence on South Lafayette Street in Shawano. Officers responded to a report of a disturbance that included gunfire.

The investigation included review of the officers body cameras, witness statements, reports, and a review of seized electronic evidence as well as recorded 911 conversations.

Winnebago County District Attorney Eric Sparr reported that no criminal charges would be filed against Officer Jeff Buettner. It was determined that the actions of the victim, Lucas L. Christenson, created a situation where officers effectively had no choice but to use deadly force. It was determined that Christenson was armed with a deadly weapon, had fired it one time and made threats that he would fire his shotgun again. It was determined that Buettner had to act in a moments notice to neutralize a deadly threat.

The investigation determined that shooting took place in the basement of the South Lafayette residence. Shortly after 5:00pm, officers Jeff Buettner, Taylor Yonker and Jacob Korth responded to a 911 call of a disturbance. It was learned that Christenson was in the basement with his wife. Officers learned that Christenson was armed with a shotgun. The two were in the process of a divorce and their had been prior harassment complaints made. Officer met with the woman’s son who said they needed help. Officer Buettner started making requests for Christenson to come upstairs, but did not get a response.

Body camera footage shows a conversation that took place between Officer Buettner and Christenson that included Christenson saying “if you reach over the threshold, you’re done” and “say goodnight” Buettner made multiple requests for Christenson to put the shotgun down, but reported hearing the sound of pump shotgun cycling the action. The sound was also heard on the body camera footage. It was discovered that Christenson turned the shotgun towards Officer Buettner and Buettner fired numerous shots. Officer Buettner fired three quick shots and then three more after a brief pause. The sound of the shotgun cycling was heard again, that’s when Officer Buettner fired five more shots for a total of 11 shots fired. Officers attended to Christenson until EMS arrived to take him to the hospital where he was pronounced deceased.

Christenson’s wife indicated to officers that he had shown up at her place intoxicated and started fighting. She indicated that Christenson had a shotgun pointed upwards that he fired and at one time it was believed he tried to shoot himself. She also told officers that at one point, her son came down to the basement and he pointed the gun at him, It was also reported that he punched her son shortly before officers arrived.

DA’s Sparr’s Conclusion

“Lucas was armed with a deadly weapon, had already fired it once and made implicit and explicit threats that he would shoot others with the shotgun. Yelling and physical conflict in the basement caused officers to make the justifiable decision that they need to cease attempts at verbal contact from the first floor, and descended to the basement. Lucas’s comments as well the racking of the shotgun, reasonably caused Officer Buettner to conclude that he needed to act at that moment to neutralize a deadly threat. Officers are trained, in a situation like this, to shoot until they know the threat is neutralized, which Officer Buettner did. I conclude that Officer Buettner’s shooting of Lucas Christenson was justified.”