After seven shootings in 24 hours, zero overnight Tuesday

MILWAUKEE -- After seven shootings in 24 hours Monday into Tuesday, Milwaukee saw no shootings overnight Tuesday into Wednesday (August 15th). FOX6 News spoke with Milwaukee Police Chief Ed Flynn about the south side problem spot MPD is targeting, and Alderman Bob Donovan, who has been outspoken about putting an end to the violence.

Chief Flynn says non-fatal shootings are only up by five cases in Milwaukee, but acknowledges it has been a busy summer for his department -- especially on the south side.

"Last night was simply a visual demonstration of how many resources we're applying to the problem. The fact that there were no shootings last night was just correlation not causation," Chief Flynn said.

Chief Flynn says the area near 23rd and Orchard is part of the south side that's recently seen shots fired on houses and cars, cars set on fire, a homicide and a triple shooting -- all likely because of an ongoing argument and, according to Donovan, a home in the neighborhood.

"We've grown to know the situation and are getting a sense of who the actors are in the feud, and we hope to be able to break that up," Chief Flynn said.

What frustrates Chief Flynn is a continued lack of cooperation from victims and eyewitnesses in the neighborhood, including some who criticized police during Tuesday's roll call in the street following the night of violence.

"Our detectives went back to that location and got exactly zero cooperation," Chief Flynn said.

Alderman Donovan has voiced concerns about crime in the area -- releasing a press release and sending a letter to leaders.

"Who are you trying to kid? We all know a day or two from now those same officers won't be in the neighborhood. It's a show for the cameras," Alderman Donovan said.

In response, Chief Flynn said he is going to assume good will on the part of Donovan, and assume the leaders share the interest of safety for the neighborhood.

"We're going to stay on top of it because there's a lot of back of forth going on. Our goal is to prevent the next homicide, the next shooting, and so we're going to be doing a variety of patrols and detective resources to that area as well as continuing to do some good intelligence analysis," Chief Flynn said.

Chief Flynn also says part of the problem is police are seeing younger and more impulsive bad guys on the streets.

Related stories: