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Officer Matthew John Rittner spent 17 years serving Milwaukee. On February 6, 2019, that service ended in gunfire while he and fellow officers carried out a search warrant. He was 35 years old.
This Matthew Rittner memorial remembers a Milwaukee Police officer, Tactical Enforcement Unit member, and United States Marine Corps veteran whose life was taken in an act of deliberate violence. His name belongs at the center of the story: a husband, father, colleague, and public servant who should have gone home.
A career built in Milwaukee
Milwaukee Police records state that Matthew began his career as a police aide in 2001 and devoted 17 years to the department and the city. He became a tenured member of the Tactical Enforcement Unit. The department also remembers him as a Marine Corps veteran and a recipient of medals and awards.
Those details describe a long commitment, but they do not fully measure a life. To the people who knew him, Matt was more than his assignment or badge number. His loss was felt by a family waiting for him, a department that depended on him, and a city that had trusted him with its safety.
The morning of February 6, 2019
According to the Officer Down Memorial Page, Officer Rittner was serving a narcotics- and firearms-related search warrant at a home near South 12th Street and West Dakota Street. The Milwaukee Police Department memorial says officers announced themselves as police before the suspect fired several rounds.
As the Tactical Enforcement Unit attempted to breach the apartment door, Officer Rittner was struck by rifle fire. He was taken to Froedtert Hospital, where he died from his injuries. The man who shot him was arrested at the scene and later sentenced to life without parole.
There is no softened version of that truth. A public servant carrying out a lawful assignment was met with violence that took his life and tore through his family and department. The grief deserves honesty, and so does the anger: Matt should have returned home.
Service that continues to matter
Milwaukee Police describe Officer Rittner as a beloved member of the agency. The department’s memorial record notes both his years of service and his military background. The Officer Down Memorial Page records that he was a 17-year veteran and Marine Corps veteran, survived by his expectant wife and child.
Memorials cannot restore the time stolen from a family. They can refuse to let a name become a statistic. They can keep a promise that Officer Matthew John Rittner’s service, courage, and sacrifice will remain part of Milwaukee’s story.
Remembering Officer Matthew John Rittner
Matt’s story is one of steady service, military commitment, and a final act of duty in the city he served for nearly two decades. We remember the officer Milwaukee lost, the Marine his country had called, and the family who deserved more time with him.
Police Officer Matthew John Rittner
Milwaukee Police Department, Wisconsin
Badge 1286
End of Watch: February 6, 2019
Age: 35
Read more stories of service and sacrifice in our Heroes collection.
Beginning as a police aide in 2001 and spending 17 years with Milwaukee says a lot about Matthew Rittner’s commitment before you even reach the final morning. He served as both a Marine and a member of the Tactical Enforcement Unit, but the detail that he left behind an expectant wife and child is the one that stops me. Remembering Badge 1286 as a husband and father keeps his life from being reduced to the way he died.