The Milwaukee Police Department honored Officer Peter Jerving on Monday with a short #WeRemember video, marking one year since he was fatally shot while trying to detain a robbery suspect on the south side, a shooting that also killed the suspect. The video, under a minute long, combines body-camera footage and photos showing both his work on the street and the smile colleagues and family remember off duty.
The clip went up on the department’s Facebook page with the caption #WeRemember and a montage of patrol footage and memorial imagery. The post can be viewed on the Milwaukee Police Department on the Facebook page. Officers and residents quickly filled the comments with condolences, prayers and brief memories of encounters with the 37-year-old officer.
How the shooting unfolded
According to the Milwaukee Police Department’s memorial page, officers were in the 2700 block of South 14th Street searching for a suspect in a nearby apartment robbery around 1:16 a.m. when they encountered a man who took off running. One officer caught up and a struggle followed. MPD states that Officer Jerving was hit by gunfire as he ran in to assist and, despite his injury, returned fire. He was rushed to Froedtert Hospital, where he later died, and the suspect was pronounced dead at the scene, according to the department’s account.
Suspect’s court history
Early reports identified the suspect as 19-year-old Terrell Thompson. Reporting from the Associated Press noted that it was not immediately clear whether Thompson’s fatal wound came from officer gunfire or was self-inflicted. The AP also reported that court records show Thompson had been sentenced to a year of probation the day before the shooting on a misdemeanor hit-and-run conviction, a detail that fed into wider local debate over repeat offenders and public safety policy at the time.
Family, honors and community response
Jerving had been with the Milwaukee Police Department for four years and is survived by his parents, six siblings and a long-time girlfriend, relatives told WISN. In the days after his death, the city held processions and a funeral in his honor, and the department later awarded posthumous medals to his family, according to CBS 58. Local outlets reported a wave of community fundraisers and collections organized to help support his partner and family in the months that followed.
The new reel is the latest in a series of tributes and public acknowledgments of Jerving’s death, including a permanent entry on the department’s memorial page that recounts the Feb. 7, 2023 incident and his work in District 4. Milwaukee Police Department officials say posts like this are meant both to honor his service and to remind the public of the risks officers face every time they head out on patrol.
