"Enough!": Sheriff reacts after another freeway shooting in Milwaukee

“Enough!“: Sheriff reacts after another freeway shooting in Milwaukee
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MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) - Another freeway shooting closes down a Milwaukee interstate.

The shooting happened on I-43 southbound just south of the Marquette interchange at around 12:20 p.m. Monday.

Authorities closed a stretch of the interstate for several hours.

“It was a lot of car just dead stopped, it looked like a parking lot,” said one driver who was stuck in the traffic jam.

Officers walked shoulder to shoulder on the freeway looking for evidence of the shooting.

“The police were just, it looked like they were looking for something on the ground,” said the driver.

Authorities are focusing on that stretch of I-43.  The Sheriff’s office says they’ve made more than 300 traffic stops near the Marquette interchange in the just the past 9 days, looking for reckless drivers and acts of road rage.

“I’m not hiding this,” said Milwaukee County Sheriff Richard Schmidt, “I’m telling you if you drive crazy on I-43 in the Marquette interchange, there’s a strong probability you’re going to see red and blue lights behind you.”

Sheriff Schmidt made the announcement November 19th.  And for good reason, on November 16th on that same stretch two men were shot after getting in a road rage incident with another car.

Both recent shootings happened in broad daylight, surrounded by other drivers.

Add those to the three other freeway shootings this year, and the Sheriff said in a statement that enough is enough:

“In the last nine days deputies pulled over more than 300 vehicles in the Marquette interchange in saturation patrols, cracking down on reckless and aggressive drivers, and providing a high visibility of marked squad cars. We will continue to aggressively patrol I-43 in the high-incident areas. Road rage, reckless driving, and gun violence will continue to get our focused attention. Criminals don't listen to reason, just jail time. Enough!”

“Our culture cannot tolerate continued gun violence that’s been plaguing our county,” said Sheriff Schmidt, “it’s got to stop, police have to be aggressive which we’re doing.”

No one was injured in the shooting Monday and the freeway was re-opened around 3:30 p.m.

The Sheriff promised the increase patrols in the area would continue. The investigation into Monday’s shooting is ongoing.

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