Homicide Investigation Leads to Police Pursuit and Fatal Shootout on Milwaukee Bridge

A Homicide Investigation Turns Into an Afternoon Pursuit

The body-worn camera begins inside a Milwaukee police vehicle on April 13, 2026. The timestamp is just before 4:54 p.m. An officer is preparing a patrol rifle while other units converge on a fast-moving situation. Within seconds, the officer is outside, moving toward South 35th Street with the rifle ready.

The short clip is only the final stage of a case that had been developing since early that morning.

Milwaukee police said a 27-year-old man was fatally shot around 5:30 a.m. near South 7th Street and West Mitchell Street. The Milwaukee County Medical Examiner's Office later identified the victim as Christopher Aguilar. Investigators developed information about a vehicle they believed was connected to the homicide.

Hours later, police said that same vehicle became connected to another shots-fired incident near North 35th Street. Officers located it at approximately 4:47 p.m. and attempted a traffic stop. The driver did not stop.

A pursuit began.

The chase ended near South 35th Street and West National Avenue when the fleeing vehicle lost control and crashed. Police identified the driver as 31-year-old Nicholas Maslowski. According to Milwaukee Police, Maslowski got out of the vehicle and fired toward officers. Eight officers returned fire.

Maslowski was struck, transported to a hospital and later died. Police said firearms were recovered and no officers were hit by gunfire.

The footage supplied for this article is one of the body-camera videos released by Milwaukee Police on April 28. Its timestamp, location, equipment markings and sequence align with the publicly documented April 13 incident.

The Morning Begins With a Fatal Shooting

The events that eventually brought officers to the 35th Street bridge began many hours earlier.

At approximately 5:30 a.m., Milwaukee police responded to the 700 block of West Historic Mitchell Street after a shooting. Authorities said a 27-year-old man had suffered fatal gunshot wounds.

The Medical Examiner's Office later identified him as Christopher Aguilar.

At the time of the first public announcement, police were still investigating the circumstances and seeking information. As detectives worked the case, they identified a vehicle believed to be connected to the homicide.

That vehicle became the link between the morning homicide investigation and the later police pursuit.

The Same Vehicle Appears in Another Shots-Fired Investigation

Milwaukee Police said the vehicle they were seeking was later involved in a separate shots-fired incident near the 1700 block of North 35th Street.

FOX6 reported the location as the area of 35th and Walnut, while other police-based reporting described the 1700 block of North 35th. These descriptions refer to the same general part of the city.

This second event intensified the effort to locate the vehicle.

By the afternoon, officers were not simply searching for a car associated with an old report. They were looking for a vehicle tied by police to a homicide earlier that morning and a subsequent gunfire incident.

Officers Spot the Vehicle at About 4:47 P.M.

At approximately 4:47 p.m., Milwaukee officers located the vehicle and attempted to stop it.

Police said the driver fled.

The resulting pursuit moved through Milwaukee toward the city's south side. Wisconsin Department of Transportation camera footage later showed squads following a light-colored car south on 35th Street.

The vehicle continued onto the 35th Street bridge.

For officers involved, the circumstances were already unusually serious. They were pursuing a driver police believed was connected to a homicide investigation and another reported shooting event.

That context explains why the bodycam shows officers preparing long guns as they arrive at the crash scene.

The Chase Ends Near 35th and National

Transportation-camera footage showed the fleeing vehicle lose control near the south end of the bridge.

The car crossed toward the opposing side of the roadway and crashed near South 35th Street and West National Avenue.

The collision did not end the danger.

Milwaukee Police said Maslowski got out of the vehicle and fired toward officers.

Several officers responded with gunfire.

The supplied bodycam captures the rapid movement of an officer exiting a squad, moving onto the roadway and joining the police response as the confrontation unfolds ahead.

What the Bodycam Actually Shows

The approximately 79-second video is important precisely because it is limited.

It does not show the morning homicide.

It does not show the entire vehicle pursuit.

Instead, it places the viewer with one officer during the final moments.

At the beginning of the clip, the officer is inside a police vehicle preparing a rifle. The AXON overlay shows April 13, 2026, shortly before 4:54 p.m.

The officer exits beside a marked Milwaukee Police vehicle and moves toward the bridge. The rifle remains visible throughout much of the recording.

Other officers and vehicles can be seen farther ahead.

The video gives a ground-level view of how quickly officers arriving behind the pursuit had to transition from driving to responding to an armed confrontation.

Police Say Maslowski Fired First

Milwaukee Police consistently described the shooting as beginning when Maslowski exited his crashed vehicle and fired toward officers.

That claim appeared in the department's April 13 release and was repeated when the bodycam and dashcam videos were released on April 28.

News outlets reviewing the released footage likewise reported that police said Maslowski fired first.

This distinction should be attributed properly. It is a police account of the sequence, supported by the department's released video package and evidence statements. The independent Milwaukee Area Investigative Team was tasked with investigating the shooting.

A responsible article should therefore avoid presenting an agency's initial account as though it were already a final independent investigative finding.

Eight Officers Returned Fire

Police said eight Milwaukee officers discharged their firearms during the confrontation.

The officers ranged from 26 to 35 years old and had service histories ranging from several months to more than 14 years.

The number of officers involved helps explain the volume of gunfire described by witnesses and the large number of evidence markers visible in news coverage of the scene.

No Milwaukee officers were reported struck by gunfire.

A 34-year-old person involved in the crash was taken to a hospital with injuries described as non-life-threatening.

Police said no other person was struck by the gunfire itself.

Maslowski Is Taken to a Hospital

Nicholas Maslowski was hit during the exchange.

Emergency personnel transported him to a hospital, where he later died.

The Milwaukee County Medical Examiner's Office identified him the following day.

He was 31.

Police also said firearms associated with Maslowski were recovered after the shooting.

The recovery of those weapons became an important part of the department's public explanation of the incident, although the complete forensic analysis belongs to the independent investigation rather than to the initial news release.

The Homicide Victim Is Identified as Christopher Aguilar

Authorities also publicly identified the man killed earlier that morning as 27-year-old Christopher Aguilar.

Police described Maslowski as the suspect in Aguilar's homicide.

That wording matters.

Because Maslowski died before any homicide case could proceed to trial, there was no criminal prosecution in which a jury determined whether he was guilty of killing Aguilar.

The accurate formulation is that police identified Maslowski as a homicide suspect or said he was connected to the homicide investigation.

It would be inaccurate to turn that investigative allegation into a conviction that never occurred.

Three Police Videos Are Released

On April 28, roughly two weeks after the incident, Milwaukee Police released three videos.

CBS 58 reported that the package contained two body-worn camera recordings and one dash-camera recording.

The supplied file is titled “April 13, 2026 OIS Video 2,” which corresponds with that multi-video release.

The department's decision to publish multiple perspectives is useful because no single camera captures the complete event.

One officer may be blocked by a squad car.

Another may arrive from a different direction.

Dashcam can preserve the movement of vehicles that occurs before an officer leaves the squad.

Together, the recordings can provide a broader timeline than any one clip.

Why the Video Is So Short

A viewer encountering this footage without context might wonder why the clip begins with an officer already holding a rifle.

The answer lies in everything that happened before the camera segment.

The officer is not beginning a routine traffic stop. Other officers have already pursued a vehicle police linked to a homicide investigation. The vehicle has crashed, and the situation has rapidly escalated.

The bodycam is therefore a fragment of a larger incident.

This is one of the most important principles when interpreting police video: a recording can be authentic and still be incomplete.

Understanding what happened requires matching the footage with dispatch information, other cameras, physical evidence, official releases and independent investigative findings.

The Bridge Creates a Difficult Environment

The final confrontation occurred on a busy urban roadway near 35th and National.

The bodycam shows open traffic lanes, concrete barriers and commercial development around the bridge.

A crash in that environment can immediately create secondary hazards.

Civilian vehicles may still be approaching.

Officers may have limited cover.

A suspect can move between crashed vehicles.

Responding officers may arrive from different directions without having seen the initial collision.

Those conditions make communication and identification especially important.

The bodycam's rapid movement reflects that confusion better than a written summary can.

The Rifle Seen in the Video Has a Specific Purpose

The officer in the supplied footage carries a patrol rifle while moving toward the scene.

That does not by itself tell us whether that particular officer fired.

A firearm appearing in bodycam is not evidence that it was discharged.

The public police statement identifies eight officers as having fired, but the supplied clip should not be used to assign shots to an individual officer unless the video and investigative records establish that fact.

The rifle is most safely understood as part of the officer's response to a reported armed threat after a pursuit and crash.

Administrative Duty Follows the Shooting

Milwaukee Police said the eight officers who discharged their weapons would be placed on administrative duty.

That is a routine step following an officer-involved shooting and should not be described as disciplinary punishment.

Removing involved officers from regular field assignments gives investigators time to process the shooting and allows the department to follow its critical-incident procedures.

The distinction matters because “administrative duty” can sound punitive when presented without context.

An Outside Agency Leads the Investigation

The Milwaukee Area Investigative Team took responsibility for investigating the police shooting.

Wauwatosa Police Department was designated as the lead agency.

Using an outside department for the principal investigation is intended to separate the evidence review from the agency whose officers fired their weapons.

Investigators can examine bodycam and dashcam video, recover cartridge casings and firearms, interview witnesses, review radio traffic and reconstruct the positions of officers and Maslowski.

The resulting investigative record is more comprehensive than the preliminary statements issued during the first hours after the shooting.

The Initial Police Account Is Not the Final Word

The first official release provides essential information quickly, but it is necessarily preliminary.

Police can state what officers reported, what weapons were recovered and what the initial evidence appears to show.

An independent investigation can then test those statements against physical evidence and multiple recordings.

This is why the article uses phrases such as “police said” when describing who fired first.

The available public reporting reviewed for this story establishes that the Wauwatosa-led investigation was ongoing after the bodycam release. No later public prosecutorial finding located in the reviewed sources is used here to make claims beyond that evidence.

Why the Timeline Matters

The April 13 timeline shows how quickly separate investigations can merge.

At about 5:30 a.m., Christopher Aguilar is fatally shot.

Investigators identify a vehicle they believe is connected to the homicide.

Later that afternoon, police say the same vehicle is involved in another shots-fired incident.

At approximately 4:47 p.m., officers locate it and attempt a stop.

The driver flees.

The pursuit reaches the 35th Street bridge.

The vehicle crashes near National Avenue.

Police say Maslowski exits and fires at officers.

Officers return fire.

Maslowski is taken to a hospital and dies.

Seen as a timeline, the bodycam becomes the final minute of a police operation that had roots nearly twelve hours earlier.

The Crash Involved Another Person

Police reported that a 34-year-old person involved in the crash was transported to a hospital with non-fatal injuries.

The available reporting does not establish that this person was part of Maslowski's vehicle.

Milwaukee Police described Maslowski as the sole occupant of the suspect vehicle.

That means the safest interpretation is that another road user was injured in the collision sequence.

The distinction prevents a common error in fast-moving news stories: turning an injured crash participant into a passenger or accomplice without evidence.

No Officers Were Hit by Gunfire

Despite the exchange, police reported that no officers were struck.

This fact is important but should not be used to minimize the seriousness of the confrontation.

Gunfire on an urban bridge creates risk to officers, motorists, pedestrians and nearby properties even when bullets do not strike additional people.

News video of the aftermath showed a large evidence scene and extensive police presence.

The fact that no additional person was hit by gunfire was a significant outcome given the circumstances described by police.

Why the Homicide Connection Needs Careful Language

News headlines understandably described Maslowski as a homicide suspect.

That was the Milwaukee Police Department's position.

But there is an important legal boundary.

A suspect is not the same as a person convicted of homicide.

Maslowski died on April 13, so the homicide allegation could not proceed through the ordinary criminal trial process against him.

This article therefore does not state that he murdered Aguilar as a judicially established fact.

It states that Milwaukee Police were seeking Maslowski in connection with Aguilar's homicide and identified him as their suspect.

What the Released Footage Adds

Official statements tell us the sequence.

Video adds the pace.

The supplied bodycam shows how little time an arriving officer has to orient himself. The officer is preparing equipment inside the vehicle, exits, passes a marked squad and advances toward the confrontation.

The camera shakes as he moves.

The rifle fills much of the frame.

The bridge and intersection appear ahead.

These details make the response tangible without requiring dramatic narration.

The tension comes from the fact that the officer is moving toward an active scene whose most important events are unfolding only seconds ahead.

What the Footage Cannot Answer by Itself

The video cannot independently determine every shot fired or every officer's exact position.

It cannot prove the earlier homicide.

It cannot establish what Maslowski knew or intended.

It cannot replace firearm forensics.

And it cannot determine whether each officer's use of force met every legal and departmental standard.

Those questions belong to the complete investigation.

Bodycam is evidence, not the entire case.

Why Multiple Sources Are Necessary

This incident illustrates why police-video reporting should combine several kinds of evidence.

The uploaded bodycam verifies the date, time and the perspective of one Milwaukee officer.

Milwaukee Police releases provide the agency's initial chronology.

The Medical Examiner's Office identification reported by local news establishes the names of Maslowski and Aguilar.

Wisconsin DOT footage provides a wider view of the pursuit and crash.

Local news organizations document witness accounts, the number of officers involved and the later release of the bodycam package.

The independent-investigation announcement establishes who is responsible for reviewing the shooting.

No single source does all of those jobs.

The Bodycam Release Adds Transparency but Not Closure

Publishing bodycam can answer immediate questions about what officers saw and how they responded.

It does not automatically close an investigation.

The April 28 release came while the Milwaukee Area Investigative Team's review remained active, with Wauwatosa Police leading.

That means the videos should be treated as newly available evidence rather than a substitute for the eventual investigative conclusions.

Transparency and finality are different things.

The public can see more of what happened while investigators continue determining exactly how the shooting unfolded.

A Pursuit That Ends in Seconds

The final stage of the incident is remarkably compressed.

A car crashes.

The driver exits.

Gunfire follows.

Officers move into position.

Emergency response begins.

The bodycam lasts little more than a minute, yet it captures the transition from pursuit to shooting response.

That compressed timing is one reason critical incidents can be difficult to understand from still images or short captions. Decisions occur in seconds, while later investigations can take weeks or months.

The Larger Story Is the Chain of Events

The most compelling way to understand this case is not to isolate the shooting from everything that preceded it.

The morning homicide creates the investigation.

The vehicle becomes an investigative lead.

The later shots-fired report raises the urgency.

The attempted stop becomes a pursuit.

The pursuit ends in a crash.

Police say the armed confrontation follows immediately.

The bodycam is the final link in that chain.

Removing the earlier events would make the officer's actions in the clip appear almost contextless. Adding unsupported details would distort the record in the opposite direction.

The strongest narrative is the verified sequence itself.

What Remains Established

The core facts are supported across Milwaukee Police statements and multiple local news reports.

Christopher Aguilar, 27, was fatally shot near 7th and Mitchell on the morning of April 13, 2026.

Police identified a vehicle they believed was tied to that homicide.

They later said the same vehicle was connected to another shots-fired incident.

Officers located the vehicle around 4:47 p.m. and attempted a stop.

The driver fled.

The pursuit ended in a crash near South 35th Street and West National Avenue.

Police identified the driver as Nicholas Maslowski, 31.

Police said Maslowski fired toward officers after leaving the vehicle.

Eight Milwaukee officers returned fire.

Maslowski was struck, transported to a hospital and died.

No officers were struck by gunfire.

The Milwaukee Area Investigative Team opened an investigation with Wauwatosa Police serving as lead agency.

A Case That Requires Both Context and Restraint

This incident contains nearly every element that can tempt a police-video story into exaggeration: a homicide investigation, a pursuit, a crash, firearms, eight officers firing and a fatal outcome.

None of those elements needs embellishment.

The facts are already consequential.

The responsible approach is to separate what the video visibly shows from what Milwaukee Police reported and from what an independent investigation must ultimately determine.

That approach produces a story that is both more accurate and more compelling because the reader can see how each verified fact leads to the next.

Watch the Full Incident

The complete video is worth watching for the speed of the transition at the end of the pursuit. Focus on the officer's preparation inside the squad, the moment he exits with the patrol rifle and the movement toward the bridge as other officers respond ahead.

Then place those seconds within the larger April 13 timeline: a homicide investigation beginning early in the morning, a vehicle police connected to that case, another shots-fired report, an attempted stop, a pursuit, a crash and the final armed confrontation described by Milwaukee Police.

The bodycam does not tell the entire story by itself. Combined with the public record, however, it provides a direct view into the final moments of a case that developed across Milwaukee over the course of a single day.