MILWAUKEE– Ohio police officers in Wisconsin for the Republican National Convention shot and killed a man wielding two knives near the convention, Milwaukee’s police chief said Tuesday.
Five members of the Columbus, Ohio, police department shot the man, who had a knife in each hand, refused police commands and attacked an unarmed man before police fired, Milwaukee Chief Jeffrey Norman said in a statement. Collective interview. Two knives were recovered at the scene, the chief said.
“Someone’s life was in danger,” Norman said. “These police officers, who were not from this area, decided to act and save someone’s life today.”
Thousands of officers from multiple jurisdictions are in Milwaukee providing additional security for the convention that began Monday and ends Thursday.
The shooting fueled anger among residents who questioned why out-of-state police officers were in their neighborhood, located about a mile from the convention site.
The Columbus Police Department, as well as the Milwaukee mayor’s chief of staff and a spokesman for the convention’s joint command center, said there was nothing to suggest the shooting was related to the convention itself.
Milwaukee residents and activists quickly converged on the scene of the shooting, many of them expressing outrage over the involvement of a police department in the city because of the convention. They planned a night vigil.
“They came into our community and killed our family right here in a public park,” said Linda Sharpe, cousin of the man who was killed. “What are you doing in our city, shooting people?”
Sharpe said her cousin, who she identified as Samuel Sharpe, lived in a camp across the street from King Park where the shooting occurred.
Residents said the camp is a long-standing feature of the neighborhood, home to several social service clinics and a shelter. Some said Milwaukee police officers are familiar with many of those living in the tents and may have been able to defuse the situation.
Kenneth Johnson, a volunteer with Friends Without Shelter, said he often delivered food to the man and others living in the tents — and questioned what an out-of-state officer was doing there.
David Porter, who said he knew the man and was also homeless, was furious that police officers from outside of Milwaukee were in his neighborhood.
“If MPD had been there, that man would still be alive right now,” Porter said, referring to Milwaukee police.
Norman, the Milwaukee chief, said 13 police officers who were part of a Columbus bike patrol were in the zone designated for a meeting when they saw the altercation.
“Officers observed an armed subject with a knife in each hand involved in an altercation with another unarmed individual,” Norman said. They only fired after the gunman ignored several commands and advanced toward the unarmed man, the chief said.
“This is a situation where someone’s life was in immediate danger,” Norman said.
The officers wore body cameras and the footage will be released in accordance with his department’s policy, Norman said.
The Columbus Police Department has received attention for its special unit deployed to 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 autopsy was scheduled for Wednesday.
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This story has been corrected to reflect that the Columbus Police Department, not the Fraternal Order of Police, said Columbus officers were operating within the designated area.
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