A 47-year-old man, suspected in a homicide, late Friday led Milwaukee police on a car chase from the south side to downtown, and when his vehicle became disabled in the busy bar district, exited his car and opened fire on officers. 

The return fire from officers killed the man, police said. The Milwaukee County Medical Examiner's Office Saturday afternoon confirmed the suspect was Ernest Terrell Blakney, who police had been searching for since Aug. 25 as the suspect in the killing of his girlfriend.

A bystander, a 22-year-old woman from Hudson, was also shot in the crossfire Friday and was taken to an area hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, according to police. It wasn’t immediately known whether she was shot by police or Blakney.

Last week, Blakney was charged with six felonies in connection to the Aug. 25 death of his partner, Nikia T. Rogers, 36, in the Nash Park neighborhood on Milwaukee’s northwest side. A criminal complaint filed in the homicide case alleged Blakney shot Rogers the morning of Aug. 25, hours after she told a friend she planned to leave Blakney and move her things out of his house.

After allegedly setting the house on fire and fleeing, Blakney was seen later that day at a construction site 8 miles north of the homicide scene. The criminal complaint said he robbed a construction worker of his vehicle at gunpoint.

Blakney forced the worker into a trailer and locked him inside, according to the complaint. The worker eventually escaped and told police there was a gun inside the truck that was stolen.

Blakney was involved in a separate case prior to Rogers’ death. Last year, he was charged with second-degree sexual assault of a child in Milwaukee County and posted a $5,000 cash bail in November.

He pleaded guilty to the charge less than three weeks ago, and was free on bail when Rogers was killed ahead of his sentencing hearing, which had been scheduled for Oct. 20.

Assistant Police Chief Nicole J. Waldner held a news conference around 2:30 a.m. Saturday near the scene downtown.

Waldner said the chase began around 10:50 p.m. Friday on the 2200 block of West National Avenue after officers attempted to apprehend the man wanted for a homicide. 

The chase ended in the bar district on the 100 block of East Juneau Avenue near the intersection with North Edison Street. 

Once the suspect's vehicle was disabled, the man exited the vehicle and began opening fire, Waldner said. Officers immediately began shooting back, killing him. 

A video circulated on social media captured some of the hectic moments downtown. The video shows at least five police cars tailing the suspect's truck before multiple shots ring out. 

Witness reports gathered by a Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reporter at the scene prior to the news conference matched the police narrative of the incident. 

No officers were injured in the shooting, police said. 

The officers involved have been placed on administrative duty, as is routine in police shootings. The Oak Creek Police Department will be the lead investigative agency in the incident. 

Following the shooting, police diverted most traffic from the bar district, shutting down parts of North Water Street and East Juneau Avenue.

The shooting is the latest instance of violence to the rock the downtown area. In May, almost two dozen people were injured in a mass shooting following a Milwaukee Bucks playoff game. Five people have been charged in connection with that incident.

In April, Shannon Freeman, a 30-year-old father and beloved chef, was shot and killed at The Loaded Slate bar, which is about a block east of the Deer District. 

In February, Krystal N. Tucker, 31, was killed and two others injured in a shooting at the popular Brownstone Social Lounge, where Tucker worked. 

Last summer, more than a dozen shots were fired near Water Street and Juneau Avenue in the midst of the Bucks championship celebration. Police at the time vowed to maintain a "constant presence" in the area on weekend nights and nights of Bucks home games.

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Rick Barrett contributed to this report.

Contact Drake Bentley at (414) 391-5647 or DBentley1@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @DrakeBentleyMJS.