Officials: Charges filed against shooters connected to Water Street mass shooting
Updated: 1:44 p.m. on May 19, 2022
MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- Three men criminally charged in a mass shooting on Water Street Friday, May 13, appeared in court Thursday, May 19.
Twenty-four-year-old Marquise Jackson, 23-year-old Christopher Murry, and 21-year-old Lemont Siller made their initial appearances.
The men are being held on $1 million cash bonds each.
They all have preliminary hearings scheduled for Thursday, May 26, and the judge ordered them to be separated from each other while in custody.
Published: 3:35 p.m. on May 18, 2022
MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- New criminal charges have been filed against three men connected to a mass shooting on Water Street Friday, May 13. The charges are the first to allege people fired guns at the crowd.
Twenty-four-year-old Marquise Jackson, 23-year-old Christopher Murry, and 21-year-old Lemont Siller are the first alleged shooters to be charged.
The charges are in connection to the Third Street shooting, the one that happened at Water and Juneau shortly after 11 p.m.; the criminal complaint says 16 people were injured as a result.
Tuesday, May 17, three men were charged for possessing guns at the shootings. Wednesday, May 18, Jackson, Murry, and Siller were charged with actually firing their guns.
All three men are facing eight felony counts for their alleged roles in the mass shooting:
- Conspiracy to commit aggravated battery, use of a dangerous weapon
- First degree reckless injury, as party to a crime, use of a dangerous weapon (7 counts)
The criminal complaint says at roughly 11 p.m. Friday, surveillance video shows Jackson, Murry, Siller, and several unknown people took up positions around a person only identified as 'RL'.
Siller later told officers he had a "longstanding dispute" with 'RL', but at a news briefing Tuesday, Milwaukee Police Chief Jeffrey Norman stopped short of saying it was gang-related.
At 11:08 p.m., an unknown person that was with the three suspects pulled out a handgun. An unknown person with 'RL' also pulled out a handgun and fired. Then Jackson, Murry, Siller, and five unknown people fired at 'RL'.
'RL' fled but the group kept shooting. A total of 16 people were shot, including 'RL'.
The complaint says 10 police officers reported the shooters fired in their direction, nearly hitting several of them.
Police Chief Jeffrey Norman said Tuesday, "We have a firearm issue in our country. We have a conflict resolution issue in our country. Tell me where the safe haven is at."
According to the criminal complaint, police officers were already in the area for a prior shooting when they heard dozens of gunshots and saw several hundred people fleeing the area.
Marquise Jackson has a criminal history: he has an open strangulation and suffocation case for allegedly choking out the mother of his child in February 2021 with both hands until she lost consciousness. Jackson was out after posting a $3500 signature bond in December.
Now MPD will enhance the enforcement of a curfew that only applies to people under 17, but none of the six people charged so far would have fallen under its authority.
And the FBI is now involved in the investigation, asking for videos and other evidence from anyone who may have witnessed the shootings.
Mayor Cavalier Johnson said Tuesday, "Standing on the sidelines is not an option. Lives are at stake. And the city's future depends on this sort of public safety."
We asked the DA's office about 'RL', the person targeted by the shooters. But the Deputy DA said they don't have any more information at this time.
Additional charges could be filed against the three suspects if there are more victims.