Search fatalities

Floyd Vanzile Jr.

Age : 64

Gender : Male

Race : White

Date : 05/24/2026

Location : Indian Settlement Road

City : Nashville

County : Forest

State : Wisconsin

Agency : Forest County Sheriff’s Office

Officer(s) :Trevor Anderson; Anthony Staffeld; Austin Babich

Cause of Death : Gunshot

Event : Killed by police during disturbance call

OPEN RECORDS SUMMARY :

On 05/23/2026, Forest County emergency dispatchers received multiple 911 calls reporting gunfire inside a housing complex on Indian Settlement Road on the Mole Lake Reservation in the Town of Nashville. Callers reported that Floyd R. Vanzile Jr. had fired three gunshots inside the apartment building. Additional callers reported that Vanzile had moved outside in a wheelchair while carrying a rifle and was continuing to fire around the residential complex.
Crandon Police Department officers Trevor Anderson and Anthony Staffeld responded with personnel from the Forest County Sheriff’s Office and Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources conservation warden Austin Babich. Officers encountered Vanzile outside the apartment complex with the rifle. Investigators determined that Vanzile fired in the direction of occupied residences and responding law-enforcement personnel.
Anderson and Staffeld fired their department weapons at Vanzile. Their rounds did not strike him. Babich also fired at Vanzile, striking him with the fatal gunshot. Officers then approached Vanzile and secured the rifle. Emergency personnel provided medical aid, but Vanzile died at the scene. The Wisconsin Department of Justice later confirmed Vanzile’s full identity as Floyd R. Vanzile Jr. in its public investigative file.
The Wisconsin Department of Justice Division of Criminal Investigation assumed responsibility for the investigation. DCI investigators collected physical evidence, interviewed civilian and law-enforcement witnesses, reviewed body-camera recordings and examined the officers’ firearms and other evidence from the scene. The Forest County Sheriff’s Office and Wisconsin State Crime Laboratory assisted DCI during the investigation.
After DCI completed its investigation, the agency submitted the case to an outside prosecutor for an independent review. Dodge County District Attorney Andrea Will reviewed the investigative reports, witness statements, physical evidence and body-camera recordings. Will concluded that Vanzile was actively firing a weapon with disregard for the people living in the housing complex and that Babich fired to protect officers and members of the public from an immediate threat.
Will determined that Babich’s use of deadly force was objectively reasonable and legally justified. She also determined that Anderson and Staffeld acted in lawful self-defense when they fired their weapons. The Dodge County District Attorney’s Office declined to file criminal charges against Babich, Anderson or Staffeld. The Wisconsin Department of Justice subsequently released the DCI investigative records associated with Vanzile’s death.

SOURCE LINKS :

https://www.wbay.com/2026/05/24/doj-investigating-officer-involved-death-forest-county/
https://www.wjfw.com/news/local/dci-investigating-officer-involved-death-in-forest-county/article_0a9d4f3a-1a7a-11f0-9fd5-0f91f57c4b4d.html
https://www.wsaw.com/2026/05/24/dci-investigating-officer-involved-death-forest-county/https://www.wsaw.com/2026/05/24/doj-investigating-officer-involved-death-forest-county/
https://wausaupilotandreview.com/2026/05/24/state-investigating-fatal-shooting-by-officers-dnr-warden-in-forest-county/