MILWAUKEE– Police officers shot and killed one person in Milwaukee on Tuesday, about five blocks outside the Republican National Convention external security perimeter, officials said.
Members of the Columbus, Ohio, police department were involved in the shooting that occurred within their designated operational area, that city’s Fraternal Order of Police said in a statement. Thousands of officers from multiple jurisdictions are in Milwaukee providing additional security for the convention that began Monday and ends Thursday.
The Columbus Police Department, as well as the Milwaukee mayor’s chief of staff and a spokeswoman for the convention’s joint command center, said there was nothing to suggest the shooting was related to the convention itself.
Milwaukee residents quickly arrived at the scene of the shooting, many angry that a city police department had been involved because of the convention. Dozens of police officers were also at the scene.
Kenneth Johnson, a volunteer with Friends Without Shelter, said the area is well-known among local residents for its homeless population who sleep in tents on nearby land — and questioned what an out-of-state police officer was doing there.
“They shouldn’t have jurisdiction to be in this area. This is not close to where the zones are,” Johnson said. “These are tent communities here, they shouldn’t be here.”
The Columbus Police Department has received a lot of attention because of its special unit deployed in Milwaukee, which works to improve police-community relations and has played a visible role in guiding the largely uneventful protests on Monday.
The shooting happened near King Park, about a mile from the convention center, where a small group of protesters gathered before marching on Monday. That rally was followed by dozens of Columbus police officers, wearing blue vests that said, “Columbus Police Dialogue.”
The Milwaukee County Medical Examiner’s Office said an adult male was shot and killed. An autopsy was scheduled for Wednesday.
The Milwaukee Police Department did not respond to an email requesting more details about Tuesday’s shooting.
