Milwaukee man fatally shot by police identified; neighbors react
MILWAUKEE - The man fatally shot by Milwaukee police near 27th and Wright on Monday, Aug. 16 has been identified by the medical examiner as 42-year-old Brodrick Shelton.
The police tape near the intersection where the shooting happened is gone on Tuesday. But what happened there is forever engrained in Cheryl Smith's memory.
"It was horrific. It was a lot of gunshots and a lot of people watching," Smith said.
Cheryl Smith
Smith said as soon as she heard gunshots, she ran outside to tell her grandkids playing in the front yard to get inside the house.
"My grandson’s 12-years-old. He’s never seen or experienced anything like that," Smith said.
Smith said she heard at least 30 gunshots.
Police fatally shot man near 27th and Wright, Milwaukee
"I think they had to put the guy down because he had the gun and he wasn’t following commands. But I don’t think they had to shoot that many times," Smith said.
Police say they got a call just before 4 p.m. Monday about a report of a man with a gun who was pointing it at people. MPD says officers told Shelton to drop his gun.
"The individual discharged his firearm. Three officers discharged their firearms subsequently striking the individual," said Acting Milwaukee Police Chief Jeffrey Norman.
Shelton died on the scene.
Family members say Shelton was not a violent person – and had some mental health issues.
"This is hard. Losing a loved one especially to the police or whatever happened, the end result is they still lost a loved one to a police officer right or wrong," said Tracey Dent, community activist.
Dent shared why he is proud of the community.
"The community has not reacted. You know, like they’ve done in the past. So they are actually waiting to hear all the details of what happened," Dent said.
Milwaukee man fatally shot by police near 27th and Wright
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As for Smith, she said she will never recover from what she witnessed.
"You don’t. Life goes on. You still have to function for your kids and your grandkids but you don’t. I’ll never forget that," Smith said.
Three Milwaukee police officers are on administrative duty as the Wauwatosa Police Department takes the lead on this investigation.
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