Teenager killed, another injured in shooting in Washington Park after June 10 Peace Day

A 17-year-old Milwaukee boy was shot and killed and another teen injured Wednesday night in a shooting in Washington Park, where a Juneteenth Peace Day event had just taken place.

The Milwaukee County Sheriff's Office said the shooting happened around 8:53 p.m. in the northeast corner of the park, at 1859 N. 40th St., on the city's west side. The shooting followed a report that 50 youths were preparing to fight near the playground.

MCSO Deputy Chief Daniel Hughes gave a briefing at the scene Wednesday evening. He said an MCSO detective encountered a suspect shooting indiscriminately with a fully automatic or converted fully automatic weapon from the intersection of North 42nd and West Lloyd streets, toward the park's playground.

“The shooter struck the victim multiple times,” Hughes said. Life-saving measures were taken, but the teen died at the hospital, according to Hughes.

The detective then fired his gun at the suspected shooter, who then fled, Hughes said. Another detective would later arrest the suspected shooter at gunpoint.

Hughes said a 15-year-old Milwaukee boy was a walk-in victim at a hospital and was believed to have been shot by the suspected shooter. He is expected to survive.

The detective who fired his gun has 27 years of experience, Hughes said. This detective has been placed on administrative leave.

The suspected shooter is a 17-year-old Milwaukee boy.

“Coincidentally, on May 20, our sheriff's office had already arrested this suspect for a charge of being a felon in possession of a firearm,” Hughes said. The suspected shooter was released on $750 cash bail, he added.

The sheriff's office said it would forward the charges to the Milwaukee County District Attorney's Office in the coming days.

The June 17 Peace Day event took place at the Washington Park Bandstand, from 5 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., after organizers decided to end the event early. The event was organized by a group, This 4 the City, and was billed as “a day of peace and unity” and a chance “to give Milwaukee's youth a safe outlet after the Juneteenth festivities of This year”. Several local musicians were scheduled to perform.

“Around 8:25 p.m., the T4TC, or This is 4 the City, event organized by MK Music Agency to celebrate the Juneteenth holiday was interrupted earlier than expected by the event organizers,” Hughes said. “This was due to unruly participants and multiple fights involving large groups of unsupervised youth. Participants began to leave. However, the fights continued throughout the outing.”

Hughes said MCSO recovered five firearms during the event and three more during the homicide investigation.

“‘Unfortunate’ isn’t the right word, it’s infuriating,” Hughes said. “We have an event supposed to celebrate Juneteenth and it ultimately ends with the death of another young man.”

This is the third year in a row that there has been armed violence during the June 19 holiday. Last year, six teenagers were injured in a mass shooting at the end of the Juneteenth festival on King Drive.

Wednesday's event at the Washington Park Bandstand was organized in part by community activist Vaun Mayes. He said about 3,000 people attended the event, which attracted young people as Milwaukee artists such as 414BIGFrank, JP, Myaa P, MT Twins, StevedaStoner and 414Kennedi performed. Rappers have developed a local following on social media.

“Summerfest and major events have the same problems and we've had a lot less support, staff, time to put them together,” Mayes said. Organizers encountered a number of “hurdles” from officials when putting on the event, he said.

“Most people don’t want to address the real problem,” he said. “With what’s happening with these young people in these incidents.

“Any shooting, especially when someone dies, is unacceptable to me. And it continues to show that we did not have full buy-in or support for this effort. And that's unfortunate.”

This article originally appeared in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: June 17 shooting at Milwaukee's Washington Park kills 17-year-old.