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Police officers shot and killed a person in Milwaukee on Tuesday about five blocks outside of the Republican National Convention’s outer security perimeter, officials said.
Members of the Columbus, Ohio, police department were involved in the shooting which occurred within their assigned operational area, that city's Fraternal Order of Police said in a statement. Thousands of officers from multiple jurisdictions are in Milwaukee providing additional security for the convention that began Monday and concludes Thursday.
The Columbus Police Department, as well as the chief of staff for Milwaukee's mayor and a spokeswoman for the convention’s joint command center, all said there was nothing to suggest the shooting was related to the convention itself.
Milwaukee residents quickly came to the site of the shooting, many angry that a police department in town because of the convention was involved. Dozens of police officers were also on the scene.
Kenneth Johnson, a volunteer with Friends Without Shelter, said the area is well known among locals for its homeless population that sleep in tents in a nearby lot — and questioned what an out-of-state officer had been doing at the location.
“They shouldn’t have jurisdiction to be in this area. This isn’t near where the zones are,” Johnson said. “These are tent communities over here, they shouldn’t be over here.”
The Columbus Police Department has received a lot of attention because of its special unit deployed to Milwaukee that works to improve police-community relationships and had a visible role in guiding the largely uneventful protests on Monday.
The shooting happened near King Park, roughly a mile from the convention center, where a small group of protesters gathered before marching on Monday. That demonstration was followed by dozens of Columbus police officers, wearing blue vests that read: “Columbus Police Dialogue.”
The Milwaukee County Medical Examiner’s Office said an adult male was shot and killed. An autopsy was scheduled for Wednesday.
The Milwaukee Police Department didn’t respond to an email seeking more details about Tuesday’s shooting.
