Manhunt for shooting suspect locks down northwest-side neighborhoods
The search for an armed man who shot a Wauwatosa police detective locked people both inside and out of their homes Friday.
A massive joint-search effort started just after 9 a.m. Two plain-clothed Tosa detectives and a uniformed officer followed a burglary suspect near 60th and Good Hope Road. The man, described as a black man in his 20s with a long ponytail shot at the officers, hit one and then ran and disappeared. Milwaukee police, the Milwaukee County Sheriff's Office, FBI, ATF and other agencies searched surrounding homes, apartments and in the air via helicopters.
Ashley Hunley woke up to gunshots and tires squealing. She thought someone robbed the gas station nearby.
Hunley went outside to look around. But police who responded to the shooting wouldn't let her back in. Her units became the central focus of the police search initially.
\"Probably won't stay here tonight,\" Hunley said. \"You know because we don't know. Obviously [the suspect] knew someone who stayed in the building so who's to say he won't come back?\"
Hunley, like most people waiting outside didn't have food, water or car keys. She ended up stuck outside well into the afternoon. Neighbor Bridget Jackson brought out food to help.
\"if they haven't found that person and he's in this vicinity, who's to say he won't try to get hostages to get out of that situation,\" Jackson said. \"Because clearly he wasn't thinking when he did what he done but he will be thinking at this point you know whether he wants to go out with a bang.\"
Hunley and her neighbors were able to get back in to their apartments around 3 p.m.
About eight blocks to the southeast, the University Academy for College Bound Students locked down on what was their last day of classes. Students were supposed to have an outdoor picnic.
\"Their carnival was outside today, but some guy messed up their whole day,\" one parent, who only wanted to be identified as Eric, said. \"I feel like the police have it under control they do a good job around here.\"
Susan G. Komen rep Amber Lea Childs was inside the school when the lock down started. She says teachers kept students calm and relaxed.
\"I am a member of the Milwaukee community so for sure you hear a story like that an officer has been shot you are definitely concerned,\" Childs said. \"But more importantly I'm concerned for the families around here that might be frightened all the children inside that might be concerned as well.\"
Meanwhile, across Green Tree Road, the New Entertainment Bar was able to open. But not many people were showing up for lunch with a squad car blocking the intersection near by.
\"I went to lock my back door, scary,\" bar worker Polly Whidden said. \"Especially if you don't know if he's going to be creeping around your backyard, trying to get in your house so yeah it was kind of scary.\"
The school lifted its lock down in the mid-afternoon. Police cleared much of the initial search area by 4 p.m. As of 6:50 p.m., the suspect remains on the run.