Brown Deer shooting; tow truck driver accused, firing at motorcyclist
BROWN DEER, Wis. - A 46-year-old Milwaukee man is accused in connection with a shooting that happened in Brown Deer on Nov. 8, 2022. The accused is Donta Davis – and he faces the following criminal counts:
- First-degree reckless injury
- Possession of a firearm by a felon
Donta Davis
According to the criminal complaint, Brown Deer police officers were dispatched to a report of a shooting near the intersection of W. Brown Deer Road and N. Green Bay Road about midday on Nov. 8, 2022. Once on the scene, officers located a 50-year-old man who had a gunshot wound to his abdomen. He was taken to the hospital for treatment.
While at the hospital, officers spoke with the shooting victim. He said he was riding his motorcycle and was stopped at a red light on N. Green Bay Road -- at Schroeder Drive (just north of Brown Deer Road). That is when the driver of a tow truck behind him began honking at him. The shooting victim told police he and the tow truck driver exchanged words, the complaint says. When the traffic light turned green, the shooting victim continued down Green Bay Road until reaching Brown Deer Road. The tow truck driver followed.
The complaint says at Green Bay and Brown Deer, the tow truck driver, later identified as the defendant, got out of his tow truck and approached the man on the motorcycle. The complaint says he pushed the motorcyclist and then punched him. The complaint goes on to say the "defendant stepped back to about four feet away while pulling out a gun, and shot (the victim) once through the stomach." The defendant then got back into the tow truck and drove off, the complaint says. The shooting victim took photos of the tow truck as it drove away -- and that included a license number, the complaint says.
Police presence at Brown Deer and Green Bay
On the scene of the shooting, officers spotted a bullet fragment near where the motorcyclist was seated after the shooting. Officers also "found a spent Winchester brand 9mm cartridge casing near where the shooting occurred," the complaint says.
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According to the criminal complaint, officers located the tow truck and stopped it in the area of N. 50th Street and W. Wabash Avenue in Brown Deer. Officials noted there were two persons in the truck, "the defendant, who was the driver" and his young son, the complaint says. In the center console of the truck, officers located a "semi-automatic pistol that was loaded with Winchester 9mm cartridges, of the same type as the casing that officers found" at the shooting scene," the complaint says.
The complaint notes that an officer spoke with the defendant's son. The 6-year-old child told the officer "that his dad was driving his tow truck, that a motorcycle would not go at a red light, and that 'Daddy had to take care of it,'" the complaint says.
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Davis made his initial appearance in Milwaukee County court on Nov. 30. Cash bond was set at $10,000. On Dec. 13, Davis waived his right to a preliminary hearing -- and he pleaded not guilty to the charges against him. Davis is due back in court on Wednesday Jan. 18.