2 Police officers shot in Milwaukee; shooter arrested.

[ARCHIVED THREAD] - 2 Police officers shot in Milwaukee; shooter arrested.

Posted: 6/10/2009 12:43:11 PM EDT

Two Milwaukee police officers were shot Tuesday afternoon on the
near south side by a bicyclist whom they had stopped, police said. A
suspect was arrested a short time later.

Both
officers were shot more than once and were taken to Froedtert Hospital
in Wauwatosa. One was in critical condition and one was in satisfactory
condition, Police Chief Edward Flynn said.

The
two 2nd District officers - who were in uniform and driving a marked
police van - were shot by the bicyclist before they could draw their
weapons around 3:10 p.m. in the 800 block of S. 2nd St., police said.

Flynn
identified the officers as Bryan Norberg, 21, on the force six months,
who was in satisfactory condition, and Graham Kunisch, 26, with 15
months on the force, who was in critical condition. Both were expected
to survive.

A
suspect whom Flynn identified as Julius C. Burton, 18, was arrested in
a home in the 900 block of S. 3rd St. less than an hour later, and
police recovered a gun. Police spokeswoman Anne E. Schwartz said he had
broken into the house.

"This is a moment that tests our discipline as well as our resolve," Flynn said at the scene.

"This neighborhood came through today. At every key moment of this investigation, someone from the community stepped forward.

"A
taxicab driver came to the assistance of the officers as they were
bleeding in the street. A UPS driver tried to follow the footsteps of
the suspect as he fled (from) the scene. Finally, an individual
homeowner identified for us where he thought the suspect might be
hiding. And on top of that, our officers, despite all the stress and
emotion . . .  extracted that suspect without incident and without
injury."

Asked
what prompted the officers to stop the bicyclist, Flynn would say only
that "it started from a 'suspicion stop' that was actively resisted."

Traffic
in the area was diverted, and Bradley Tech High School, with about
1,200 students, was locked down for the students' safety, said Philip
Harris, a Milwaukee Public Schools spokesman. They were released around
5 p.m.

Tom
Aldana, 25, who works at Super Star Tattoo, 712 S. 2nd St., said he was
in the shop working, heard gunshots coming from south of the business
and saw commotion outside. He started seeing squad cars arriving on the
scene and went to check it out.

When he got just south of National Ave., he said, "I saw people on the ground," then realized they were police officers.

Aldana said that he was a state-certified emergency medical technician, and that he identified himself to police.

"I asked for gloves and helped to suppress a wound on one of the officers," he said.

According to Aldana, the officer was bleeding from the jaw, but he couldn't tell for sure where the officer had been shot.

"He appeared to be bleeding the most" of the two officers, Aldana said.

He said the second officer appeared to be in a prone position and appeared to have an eye injury.

Schwartz said she couldn't confirm Aldana's role.

She did confirm that a cab driver helped tend to the victims, however.

The
driver was northbound on S. 2nd St. and saw the shooting, according to
Red Christensen, general manager of American United Taxi Cab.
Christensen said the driver pulled across a lane of traffic, jumped out
of the cab and provided aid to the officers.

"He was covered in blood," Christensen said. "Even the cops say he's a hero."

Christensen didn't identify the driver.

Meanwhile,
Mike Collins, sales manager for Federal Manufacturing, 201 W. Walker
St., said the plant manager and a UPS delivery man saw the suspect run
through the parking lot of the business.

The delivery man then followed the suspect.

The driver and the plant manager then pointed police toward the residence where the suspect was arrested, Collins said.

"He went out of his way to follow this guy to see where he went," Collins said of the delivery man.

Flynn and other officials briefed reporters about 4:40 p.m. and 9 p.m.

"I
think the citizens of this community should recognize how the men and
women of this Police Department put their lives on the line every
single day," Mayor Tom Barrett said. "These were two men who were doing
their job for the citizens of Milwaukee."

District Attorney John Chisholm said the case was being treated as two counts of attempted homicide.

Within
minutes of the shooting, the intersection of S. 2nd and National Ave.
was snarled with traffic including squad cars, unmarked squad cars, a
Fire Department ladder truck, a police patrol wagon and horse-mounted
police. At least one police dog was also at the scene.

Lance
Macdonald, 61, said he was in his kitchen just around the corner from
the shooting scene when he heard five shots - two shots followed by
three.

Macdonald went outside and saw an officer on the ground.

"I
saw the bicycle down on the ground, and a little bit south of that, I
saw an officer," said Macdonald, who couldn't see the second officer
from his vantage point. "The medics were working on this poor cop like
mad. There was definitely deep trouble there."

Firefighters and paramedics "were here in a moment, and they were working hard, busting their asses," Macdonald said.

Cristina Zimmer and her husband heard the shots at their home about a block and a half from the scene.

"We just heard five shots. Two shots and then three shots in rapid succession" Zimmer said.

The
Walker's Point Association, a neighborhood group, released a statement
calling the shootings "an act of brutal and unacceptable violence" that
"does not reflect the culture of the Walker's Point neighborhood."

The
group said, "There have been drastic steps taken in the area over the
past years to improve the safety, security and quality of life for all
people in the Walker's Point district."

It said, "To all the officers and their families, we hold you in our thoughts and prayers."

Flynn and others echoed the praise for the neighborhood, calling it safe.

"Do
not stigmatize this neighborhood," Flynn said. "This is a low-crime
neighborhood. Bad things happen to good people. Bad things happen in
good neighborhoods. This is a safe neighborhood with cooperative
citizens, hard-working businesses and proud Milwaukeeans."

I really applaud all the citizens who went out of their way to help the police.

Posted: 6/10/2009 4:17:35 PM EDT

[#1]

Prayers out to the officers and their families. I hope they make a speedy recovery.

Posted: 6/10/2009 4:24:16 PM EDT

[#2]

Quoted:

I really applaud all the citizens who went out of their way to help the police.

Me too. It's a nice contrast to:

http://www.ar15.com/forums/topic.html?b=1&f=5&t=883104

Posted: 6/10/2009 5:11:04 PM EDT

[#3]

This link has a good video of a press conference. The mayor gets kind of emotional talking about kids with guns. IMO, the Chief if top notch.

Posted: 6/10/2009 8:33:35 PM EDT

[#4]

Prayers sent for a speedy recovery.

Posted: 6/10/2009 9:34:09 PM EDT

[#5]

Wow. Thank god for the citizens willing to step in and help at the right time. Nice to see we actually have some on our side. Prayers to the officers, families and friends....

Posted: 6/13/2009 6:04:08 PM EDT

[#6]

Hey guys, FYI on the officers, Norberg was released from the hospital and is doing as well as one would expect, Kunish is still in the hospital. (He lost an eye) As a Milwaukee Officer I'd like to thank you all who had some nice words for these guys.

Posted: 6/13/2009 6:09:27 PM EDT

[#7]

Prayer sent for a speedy recovery.

Posted: 6/17/2009 8:59:53 AM EDT

[#8]

Quoted:

Quoted:

I really applaud all the citizens who went out of their way to help the police.

Me too. It's a nice contrast to:

http://www.ar15.com/forums/topic.html?b=1&f=5&t=883104

And gee - the first post in that thread is XDBACKUPGUN, with his usual "wisdom". Go figure.

Quoted:

Hey guys, FYI on the officers, Norberg was released from the hospital and is doing as well as one would expect, Kunish is still in the hospital. (He lost an eye) As a Milwaukee Officer I'd like to thank you all who had some nice words for these guys.

Thanks for the update. Let them know they're in the thoughts and prayers of the Brothers here.

Posted: 6/17/2009 4:03:30 PM EDT

[#9]

Thoughts and Prayers Brothers, Speedy recovery

As for the GD "Usual Suspects" they can colectively suck a bag of Dicks.

Posted: 6/17/2009 4:10:52 PM EDT

[#10]

It's terrible that the officer lost an eye... but a blessing that it was only an eye.

Prayers out.

[ARCHIVED THREAD] - 2 Police officers shot in Milwaukee; shooter arrested.

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