Teen with a lengthy criminal past possibly linked to dozens of robberies

MILWAUKEE (WITI) -- Digging deeper into the background of the suspects in the fatal shooting of Camron Powell; the teen had a lengthy juvenile record. Milwaukee Police Department say this crew might be responsible for dozens of robberies.

It turns out Camron Powell was not the gunman holding up the man who shot him on Monday morning, September 1st.

He was involved in the holdups, but a criminal complaint says Powell went back to the scene of the crime to get his backpack when he was shot.

There is a picture on social media that police say captures a lot -- it shows Camron Powell smiling with an AK-47.

"This is the type of weaponry the Russian military uses. this is an assault rifle, the kind of military weaponry we commonly see on the streets," said Milwaukee Police Department Captain, David Salazar.

The eulogy pictures on social media disturb police, honoring a teen who died a member of a violent gang.

A criminal complaint says Powell was in a group of teens that admitted to carjackings and armed robberies in a four-day crime spree. One member of the group wanted to do just one more. They confronted a group of people near 2nd and National. One member of the robbery group fired at the victims. A victim took out his own 9MM and fired back -- the robbers left.

Afterward, Powell remembered he left his backpack at the scene, he went back. The complaint says the victims were still hiding behind cars, Powell reached into his bag and walked towards them. Fearing Powell was retrieving a gun, the victims fired one shot striking Powell.

"That's the most dangerous part of this whole thing, the intergenerational component, the older offender who has been in the gang for a long time. Now they're passing the gang trade craft to a younger generation," said Salazar.

Milwaukee Police say Powell was in a street gang known as the Wild Hunnits.

Last month another member of the gang, Joshua Drake was also shot and killed by his intended robbery victim at the Innovative Optique store in Bayside.

"One of the things we're looking at is the groups of individuals that are causing this urban terrorism. This Wild Hunnits, we're trying to reduce what they're creating in this community," Salazar said.

Milwaukee police have a program to reach out to young gang members and offer them options -- it doesn't always work.

In the case of Camron Powell, police say they would have liked to reach him much earlier.

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