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Police investigate a shooting near King Park during the second day of the 2024 Republican National Convention, Tuesday, July 16, 2024, in Milwaukee. (AP)
Police released body camera footage that showed officers on bikes talking before one of them says, “He’s got a knife”
A knife-wielding homeless man was shot and killed near the Republican National Convention in the US state of Wisconsin on Tuesday. The incident follows the shocking assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania.
Milwaukee’s police chief said five members of the Columbus, Ohio, police department fired on the man, who had a knife in each hand, refused police commands and charged at an unarmed man before police fired. Two knives were recovered from the scene, Milwaukee Chief Jeffrey Norman said at a news conference.
This incident came as Trump’s failed primary challengers are to take the stage Tuesday at the Republican Party convention, in an act of support for the party’s prominent figure and newly designated US presidential candidate. The unified front comes a day after the ex-president triggered high emotion when entering the convention hall in Milwaukee as he made his first public appearance since surviving a weekend assassination attempt.
Police released body camera footage that showed officers on bikes talking before one of them said, “He’s got a knife.” Several officers then yell “Drop the knife!” as they run toward two men standing in a street. When the armed man moved toward the unarmed man, police fired their weapons. “Someone’s life was in danger,” Norman said. “These officers, who were not from this area, took it upon themselves to act and save someone’s life today.”
Thousands of officers from multiple jurisdictions are in Milwaukee providing additional security for the convention that concludes Thursday. According to The Associated Press, the shooting fueled anger from residents who questioned why out-of-state officers were in their neighborhood located about a mile from the convention site. The Columbus Division of Police said there was nothing to suggest the shooting was related to the convention itself.
A cousin and others identified the man killed as 43-year-old Samuel Sharpe. Milwaukee residents and activists quickly converged on the site of the shooting, many of them expressing outrage about the involvement of a police department in town because of the convention. About 100 people held a vigil and march without incident on Tuesday night, pausing for a moment of silence at the blood-stained spot where Sharpe was killed.
“They came into our community and shot down our family right here at a public park,” said Linda Sharpe, a cousin of the man who was killed. “What are you doing in our city, shooting people down?” Linda Sharpe said her cousin lived in a tent encampment across the street from King Park, where the shooting occurred.
Residents said the encampment was a long-standing feature of the neighborhood, which is 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 might have been able to de-escalate the situation. The shooting happened near King Park, roughly a mile from the convention center, where a small group of protesters gathered before marching on Monday.
(With agency inputs)
