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A 32-year-old Milwaukee police officer is in critical condition and a 29-year-old officer has nonfatal injuries after a suspect opened fire on them as they responded to a shots fired call, authorities say.
The shooting took place about 9:30 p.m. June 26 in an alley in the 2200 block of North 24th Place. Well into the early morning hours June 27, police were asking the public to avoid the area, saying there was a threat to the public. The department said officers were searching the area for a known suspect, who remains at large.
Milwaukee Police Chief Jeffrey Norman is at a work conference, so Assistant Chief Nicole Waldner briefed the media early Friday morning. She called the incident “this horrible thing that has once again happened to our city.”
Both officers are men who work in Police District Two and have about six years of service each.
KC Tate said he was on his porch near the shooting scene when he heard five or six shots in a row followed by the largest police response he’s ever seen.
“You never get this many cop cars this fast in this area,” Tate, 65, said.
The police shooting is at least the third time an officer has been shot in Milwaukee this year. Another officer was shot earlier this month.
The Milwaukee Police Association, the union representing rank-and-file officers, has raised concerns in recent weeks about staffing levels at the department. Waldner pushed back on those concerns.
“I don’t think that would have prevented anything today,” she said. “Because what the problem is today and every time actually… the problem is too many people have guns, so I could put an officer on every single corner and it doesn’t eliminate the number of guns in the hands of people that shouldn’t have them all over the city.”
Mayor Cavalier Johnson called it a “sad day when officers are fired upon.”
“What are we doing to make sure our officers are safe?” he added. “Not just folks in government but folks in the community.”
Johnson said to the shooter, “Turn yourself in.”
“Know that the men and women in this department, on this police force, they’re gonna find you, they’re going to arrest you and you’re going to be brought to justice anyway.”
A video shared to social media appeared to show about 30 officers converging on a home in the 1900 block of North 27th Street late Thursday. The Milwaukee County Medical Examiner’s Office responded to nearby North 30th and West Vine streets, meaning a death occurred there. But police have not confirmed that the incidents are connected.
Five Milwaukee officers have been shot and killed since 2018, including Officer Peter Jerving, shot and killed in 2023.
“Stop trying to kill my police officers,” said Alex Ayala, president of the police association.
This story was updated to add new information.
This story was updated to add a video.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Two Milwaukee officers seriously injured in north side shooting
Reporting by Drake Bentley, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
