Laray Sharpe (left), a relative of a man police shot and killed near King Park, grieves during the second day of the 2024 Republican National Convention on Tuesday in Milwaukee. The shooting occurred outside the convention security perimeter.
MILWAUKEE — Out-of-state police officers fatally shot a man with a knife blocks away from the Republican National Convention on Tuesday, raising questions about a security plan that had otherwise gone smoothly to start the week.
An unspecified number of police officers from Columbus, Ohio, opened fire on the man in the afternoon near King Park, authorities said. Community activists sharply criticized the shooting, which happened near an encampment for unhoused people. They called it unjustified.
Thirty-one seconds of police body-camera video released late Tuesday shows the cops in the middle of discussing a protest when one yells, “He’s got a knife.” They run after a man who is seen lunging at another man in the middle of a street, away from officers, who fire numerous shots.
A main kneels down and prays at the blood stain where Samuel Sharpe was shot and killed Tuesday on West Vilet Street in Milwaukee.
Anthony Vazquez/Sun-Times
It happened about four blocks away from the downtown security perimeter where Republican delegates are gathering in support of presidential nominee Donald Trump. Officers from more than 100 departments nationwide — including Chicago — are in Milwaukee to help with convention security.
Milwaukee Police Chief Jeffrey Norman said that about 1:10 p.m., 13 Columbus police officers were being briefed by supervisors on their assignment for the day when they saw two people fighting, one of them wielding a knife and the other unarmed.
The officers identified themselves, made “several commands” to drop the knife, and he refused, Norman said. Five officers opened fire, killing him.
“Someone’s life was in danger,” Norman said. “These officers, who are not from this area, took it upon themselves to act to save someone’s life today.”
Columbus police said the shooting happened “within the operational zone to which our officers were assigned.”
“At this time, it does not appear that this incident was related to the convention,” Columbus police said in a statement.
Laray Sharpe, who said she was the victim’s cousin, identified the deceased as Samuel Sharpe Jr., a 43-year-old man who lived in a tent near King Park. “What are you doing in our city anyway, coming here and shooting people down?” she said in tears.
Nearby residents and activists decried the Ohio officers’ use of force, saying they had been promised by Milwaukee police that out-of-town law enforcement would be stationed near the downtown arena where convention events are happening through Thursday.
“This is a predominantly Black neighborhood on the North Side of Milwaukee, and Columbus cops had absolutely no reason to be here,” said Aurelia Ceja, co-chair of the Milwaukee Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression.
Ceja is also a leader of the Coalition to March on the Republican National Convention, which led the first large-scale RNC protest, a demonstration that went peacefully Monday. Coalition activist Alan Chavoya said they had raised concerns with Norman about thousands of non-Milwaukee police officers “descending on Milwaukee” for convention security.
“We’re not even two days into this RNC and we have a casualty,” Chavoya said.
Coalition activist Alan Chavoya leads a chant during a protest Tuesday near King Park in Milwaukee.
Anthony Vazquez/Sun-Times
Teenagers Jaquan Thomas and Amarion Washington said they were playing basketball in King Park when they saw the bicycle officers go after two people who appeared to be wrestling. They heard four or five shots and ran.
“They didn’t have to kill that man,” Thomas said.
Pastor Radontae Ashford of The Infinite Church of Milwaukee said about 50 people live in the encampment. “There’s an entire community, a whole neighborhood,” he said. “We need answers.”
Wanda Campbell said she lives near the shooting scene and saw it happen.
“They shot him in the back,” Campbell said. “They shot him like a dog … None of this would’ve happened if the RNC wasn’t happening.”
The police department in Greenfield, Wisconsin, will handle an independent investigation of the use of force.
Girls write down Samuel Sharpes name during a vigil at King Park in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Tuesday, July 16, 2024. Columbus Police officers shot and killed Samuel Sharpe during a confrontation between two men. |Anthony Vazquez/Sun-Times
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Mourners hold signs during a vigil at King Park on West Vilet Street in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Tuesday, July 16, 2024. Columbus Police officers shot and killed Samuel Sharpe during a confrontation between two men. |Anthony Vazquez/Sun-Times
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Coalition activist Alan Chavoya leads a chant during a protest on West Vilet Street in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Tuesday, July 16, 2024. Columbus Police officers shot and killed Samuel Sharpe during a confrontation between two men. |Anthony Vazquez/Sun-Times
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Mourners gather around the blood stain where Samuel Sharpe was shot and killed on West Vilet Street in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Tuesday, July 16, 2024. Columbus Police officers shot and killed Samuel Sharpe during a confrontation between two men.|Anthony Vazquez/Sun-Times
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Mourners gather around the blood stain where Samuel Sharpe was shot and killed on West Vilet Street in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Tuesday, July 16, 2024. Columbus Police officers shot and killed Samuel Sharpe during a confrontation between two men.|Anthony Vazquez/Sun-Times
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Milwaukee Police investigate the scene of shooting on West Vilet Street in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Tuesday, July 16, 2024. Columbus Police officers shot and killed Samuel Sharpe during a confrontation between two men.|Anthony Vazquez/Sun-Times
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A mourner holds a candle during a vigil at King Park on West Vilet Street in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Tuesday, July 16, 2024. Columbus Police officers shot and killed Samuel Sharpe during a confrontation between two men. |Anthony Vazquez/Sun-Times
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Mourners hold signs during a vigil at King Park on West Vilet Street in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Tuesday, July 16, 2024. Columbus Police officers shot and killed Samuel Sharpe during a confrontation between two men.|Anthony Vazquez/Sun-Times
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A child sits in front of a home behind police tape on West Vilet Street in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Tuesday, July 16, 2024. Columbus Police officers shot and killed Samuel Sharpe during a confrontation between two men. |Anthony Vazquez/Sun-Times
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Milwaukee Police Chief Jeffrey Norman briefs the media on the shooting of Samuel Sharpe that took place on West Vilet Street in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Tuesday, July 16, 2024. Columbus Police officers shot and killed Samuel Sharpe during a confrontation between two men. |Anthony Vazquez/Sun-Times
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Mourners hug and cry on one another around the blood stain where Samuel Sharpe was shot and killed on West Vilet Street in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Tuesday, July 16, 2024. Columbus Police officers shot and killed Samuel Sharpe during a confrontation between two men. |Anthony Vazquez/Sun-Times
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Milwaukee Police Chief Jeffrey Norman briefs the media on the shooting of Samuel Sharpe that took place on West Vilet Street in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Tuesday, July 16, 2024. Columbus Police officers shot and killed Samuel Sharpe during a confrontation between two men. |Anthony Vazquez/Sun-Times
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A woman pumps her fist as protestors march by Milwaukee on West Vilet Street in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Tuesday, July 16, 2024. Columbus Police officers shot and killed Samuel Sharpe during a confrontation between two men.|Anthony Vazquez/Sun-Times
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Pastor Radontae Ashford of The Infinite Church of Milwaukee speaks to the press near West Vilet Street in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Tuesday, July 16, 2024. Columbus Police officers shot and killed Samuel Sharpe during a confrontation between two men. |Anthony Vazquez/Sun-Times
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Residents and police walk down the sidewalk in a closed off area near the scene where Samuel Sharpe was shot on West Vilet Street in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Tuesday, July 16, 2024. Columbus Police officers shot and killed Samuel Sharpe during a confrontation between two men. |Anthony Vazquez/Sun-Times
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The blood stain remains on the street where Samuel Sharpe was shot on West Vilet Street in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Tuesday, July 16, 2024. Columbus Police officers shot and killed Samuel Sharpe during a confrontation between two men.|Anthony Vazquez/Sun-Times
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Milwaukee Police investigate the scene of shooting on West Vilet Street in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Tuesday, July 16, 2024. Columbus Police officers shot and killed Samuel Sharpe during a confrontation between two men.|Anthony Vazquez/Sun-Times
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Milwaukee Police Chief Jeffrey Norman briefs the media on the shooting of Samuel Sharpe that took place on West Vilet Street in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Tuesday, July 16, 2024. Columbus Police officers shot and killed Samuel Sharpe during a confrontation between two men.|Anthony Vazquez/Sun-Times
Classes for about 328,000 students begin amid a heatwave as reading scores have rebounded to above pre-pandemic levels just as federal relief money for extra supports is running out.
The combination of heat and humidity Monday and Tuesday is expected to hit the triple digits, raising risks of dehydration and exhaustion. The area is also under an air-quality alert, triggered by residual wildfire smoke from Canada, meteorologists said.
They’ll be available from the federal government at a yet-to-be-announced date in September. Though the numbers of deaths and serious infections have dropped dramatically since the coronavirus began spreading across the United States in 2020, the number of hospitalizations has started to creep up in recent weeks.
