Off-duty Milwaukee police officer shot in robbery attempt

Detective wounded as he intervened during crime

An off-duty Milwaukee police officer was shot Thursday during what authorities described as a robbery-related incident in the city’s Third Ward.

Police presence was heavy in the area around East Buffalo and North Water streets after reports of an attempted carjacking.

Speaking at a news conference at the scene, Police Chief Jeffrey Norman said the sequence of events began around 2 p.m. when a suspect tried and failed to steal a vehicle with three children inside.

The driver, an adult woman, then entered a business but was followed by a suspect who attempted to rob her again. The off-duty detective, a 37-yearold with seven years of experience with the Milwaukee police, intervened.

A struggle ensued and the suspect fired multiple shots, hitting the detective multiple times. The detective returned fire, but Norman said it appears his gunfire did not strike anyone.

“This was an off-duty detective probably just ordering food,” Norman said. “He went into danger without any hesitation.”

The suspect fled in a vehicle that was later seen by police around the 2700 block of West 8th Street.

The vehicle did not pull over and a chase ensued, which ended on the 3000 block of North 30th Street, Norman said.

Multiple suspects fled on foot. Two were taken into custody, a 17-year-old and an 18-year-old.

Norman said the detective was in stable condition of at Froedtert Hospital.

Acting Mayor Cavalier Johnson praised the detective and said this was another example of the proliferation of firearms in Milwaukee.

“The people in the city have had enough of the violence,” Johnson said.

Some in the neighborhood were still trying to process what they heard or saw, even hours after the shooting.

“I heard the noises that sound like gunshots. My employee was actually taking a break, eating at our window,” said the owner of the nearby Aloha Poke Co., who identified himself only as Brian. “At that moment, I just saw someone running past my store really fast.

“My employee saw the guy running past our store as well. That’s pretty much all we saw because it was just kind of a blur.

“And then we saw people kind of looking outside Shake Shack. I actually locked my door because I wasn’t exactly sure what was going on.”

MIKE DE SISTI / THE MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL Police work on the scene where an off-duty Milwaukee police officer was shot near the intersection of North Water and East Buffalo streets Thursday.