Man with a gun is shot and killed by officer at Zablocki VA Medical Center

Authorities on Tuesday were piecing together answers as to why an armed man tried to enter the Milwaukee VA Medical Center on Monday night where he was confronted by police and fatally shot.

Around 8:40 p.m., the man, whose identity was not released Tuesday, was stopped by VA police outside the east entrance of the hospital, according to VA officials.

Police told the man to drop his shotgun, but he refused. After the man threatened VA police, multiple shots were fired.

He was taken to the VA hospital's emergency department, where he died soon after the incident. No one else was injured. The man was not a military veteran.

All media queries on Tuesday were directed to the Milwaukee VA, which did not respond to requests for the man's name and age, how many rounds were fired and other questions. The Milwaukee VA referred questions to Milwaukee police and Milwaukee police referred questions to Milwaukee VA officials.

Officers from several agencies responded to the hospital Monday night where police shut down multiple entrances to the federally run health care facility at 5000 W. National Ave.

The VA hospital has its own police force and there are police posts at two public entrances. The police post in the east entrance is right inside the doors.

It's unknown whether one or more than one VA police officer fired their weapon. It's common in police-involved shootings for another law enforcement agency to investigate while the officer is put on paid leave, but whether that's being done in this case is not known.

The Milwaukee County medical examiner declined to release information Tuesday about the man because of a nondisclosure ordered by authorities.

The Milwaukee VA medical complex encompasses several buildings on 245 acres, including a medical center with almost 200 beds plus a nursing home and a domiciliary for inpatient substance abuse and psychiatric rehabilitation as well as care for PTSD patients.

The medical center handles more than 850,000 visits annually through its extensive outpatient program. It remained open for appointments and emergencies  Tuesday.

Earlier this month a veteran who is a double amputee was sentenced to 25 years in prison for a shooting rampage in a Florida VA hospital emergency room in 2019, wounding several people. VA police at a hospital in Dallas in January shot and killed a man who came to the facility and threatened them with a knife.