"Where are we safe?!" Man gunned down inside Fox Point optical store



FOX POINT (WITI) -- A big question remains following a fatal shooting that occurred Thursday, August 14th inside Innovative Optique -- a store in a strip mall near Port Washington Road and Brown Deer Road: Who is the person who was shot and killed? Investigators were finally able to enter the store hours after the shooting. They were waiting for a search warrant to be obtained due to the nature of the crime.

Investigators at the scene on Thursday night were searching for clues -- trying to determine what happened.

Police say an initial 911 call came in around noon as an armed robbery. First responding officers went inside the store and identified a shooting scene.

"Upon arrival, we learned a robbery had occurred at this location.  There is one person deceased in the store," Acting Fox Point Police Chief Christopher Freedy said.

Fox Point police say an attempted armed robbery occurred just after noon.

It took more than six hours to obtain a search warrant so that investigators could enter the store. Once that search warrant was obtained, officials with the Wisconsin Crime Lab were working to process the scene.

Police say they are talking with two persons of interest in this case.

Police say the store's owner has been interviewed.

Police still won't say who has been killed -- or their connection to the store.

A FOX6 News crew on Thursday observed a woman overcome with emotion -- believing the person lying dead inside the store may be her son.

Former employees of the store say they were relieved to learn their former boss is okay.

"I was very shocked and I wanted to make sure it wasn't him," a former employee said.

FOX6's Bret Lemoine spoke with a customer of the optical store who says it sells "high-end" frames -- and that there have been several robbery attempts there recently.

Suzy Ettinger came to the store Thursday, to get her glasses adjusted. She says she knows what she saw there on Thursday afternoon -- no prescription needed.

"It's very frightening. Here we are on the North Shore. Where are we safe?!" Ettinger said.

The Milwaukee County Medical Examiner was called out to the scene for a male victim, pronounced dead at the scene.

The store has been the target of crooks before.

In 2009, a robber demanding money was put in a headlock by the store's owner. That individual got away, but was caught by police after a high-speed chase.

"I was just glad it wasn't (the owner) that got hurt. I was relieved," a former employee said.

"He's the kind of guy who comes in and gives a hug -- so he's like family. It's very, very sad," former employee Reyn Appell said.

Former employees say the store's valuable merchandise makes it a target.

Customers say some of the frames sold at the store are $2,300 a piece.

"They couldn`t rob due to the fact that they wanted only expensive frames and they are locked up," Ettinger said.

This time, Ettinger says there was a getaway car.

"He had accomplices down the block -- literally waiting to run with them," Ettinger said.

The getaway car almost hit Laronda Campbell.

"We just was driving and we was turning in the turning lane and good thing I stopped in time because we would have been another casualty," Campbell said.

Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke says multiple agencies are assisting in this investigation.

In this case, we're told police asked for a search warrant just to be extra careful with this fatal shooting scene.

The Milwaukee County Medical Examiner's Office is set to perform an autopsy on the deceased individual. Once that autopsy has been performed and family members have been notified, the identity of the deceased will be released.

Police say witnesses and store employees are cooperating with this investigation.

The Bayside Police Department, the Wisconsin Department of Criminal Investigation, the Milwaukee County Sheriff's Office and the Wisconsin Crime Lab were taking part in this investigation.





FOX6 News has a crew on the scene -- and we will update this story when possible.