Teenage victim in fatal Mayfair police shooting ID’d
Police have identified the victim of a police shooting in Wauwatosa on Sunday as a 17-year-old Milwaukee boy.
Alvin Cole was killed by police following an altercation inside Mayfair mall, according to a family member and several friends.
The Milwaukee Police Department, which is investigating the shooting, declined to release the officer’s name, citing the ongoing investigation.
The shooting occurred in the parking lot of The Cheesecake Factory, 2350 N. Mayfair Road.
A Mayfair employee said he witnessed an altercation between a group of people occur around 5:30 p.m. Sunday in front of the Sephora store. The employee, who declined to provide his name, said several people were yelling at each other. About 30 seconds later, security responded and escorted the group from the mall.
Wauwatosa Police Chief Barry Weber said the Wauwatosa Police Department was contacted around 5:41 p.m. by Mayfair mall security for a “disturbance involving approximately 10 individuals inside the mall.”
“While officers were responding, at least one witness reported seeing a suspect involved in the disturbance was in possession of a handgun,” Weber said Sunday night at a news conference.
Weber said officers chased a group of individuals outside the mall.
“One of them matched the description given of the suspect in possession of the gun,” Weber said. “Officers called out in foot pursuit and gave chase through the parking lot.”
During the pursuit, one officer fired their handgun, striking Cole, who was in possession of a handgun, Weber said.
Cole was transported to Froedtert Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 6:30 p.m.
The officers who were involved in the shooting have been placed on administrative leave, which Weber said is standard procedure.
A manager at The Cheesecake Factory, who was there when the shooting occurred, said he didn’t see or hear anything until after police arrived on the scene.
King Rick of the Original Black Panthers of Milwaukee is the spokesperson for the family of Cole. He said the family needs answers about what happened.
“The investigation needs to be transparent, concise and it needs to be clear, ’cause there’s so many different stories and the reality is that a young, 17-yearold teenager, black male, lost his life,” he said.
Management at Mayfair mall released a statement about the incident.
“This is a police matter,” the statement read. “We are disheartened this terrible incident happened in our parking lot, and we are assisting the Wauwatosa and Milwaukee police departments however we can with this investigation.”
In June 2016, a Wauwatosa police officer shot and killed 25-year-old Jay Anderson Jr., who was inside a car in Madison Park. In that case, Wauwatosa Police Officer Joseph Mensah was not charged with a crime after prosecutors determined his actions were justified self-defense after he perceived Anderson was reaching for a gun.