Milwaukee Shake Shack shooting, detective saved delivery driver, kids

MILWAUKEE - The food delivery driver nearly carjacked before an off-duty Milwaukee police detective intervened Thursday. Jan. 13 in the Third Ward is describing the ordeal that left the MPD detective with multiple gunshot wounds.

Everything started outside Shake Shack in the Third Ward. The woman says she got out of her car, turned it off and started walking toward the restaurant to pick up a food order. In that moment, she could see employees pointing and waving at her.

"Their car pulled up next to mine," she said. "He jumped out and jumped into mine."

The Milwaukee woman, still in fear for her safety, asked to remain anonymous. She says everything happened so quickly Thursday afternoon.

"My daughter said, ‘Who are you?’ to him, and he turned around and said, ‘Whoa’ and jumped out," she said.

With all three of her daughters still in the car, she watched the man run away. She then realized he dropped his phone.

"I went and grabbed the phone and then went…told the restaurant to call 911," she said. "'Call them, please. I have his phone.'"

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That's when things took a turn.

"As I’m talking and saying I have his phone, he heard me, and he turned towards me and came rushing at me, wrapped his arms around me and like, tried to tackle me to the ground to get his phone back," she said.

The off-duty Milwaukee detective, who happened to be inside Shake Shack, jumped in.  

"They were wrestling on the ground, and then you heard two shots, followed by more shots," she said. "While that was happening, the restaurant employees were pulling me to the back, and I was trying to get to my kids."

The woman says she saw the officer bleeding.

"The whole time he was on the ground, he just was repeating the plate number and what he wanted them to write down, so he just didn’t care about himself at all," she said.

Eventually, the mother of three made it back to her car.

"We’re just trying to get through, right now, the trauma," she said.

She says she doesn't feel safe as a food delivery driver and started a GoFundMe.com account to try to move on.

"Just to try to help me get through until I can find a job, and I don’t feel safe in Milwaukee," she said. "I’d like to relocate."

The woman said she considers the detective a hero, and she said she hopes to meet him one day to thank him for saving her life. She is also grateful for the Shake Shack employees who helped keep her and her children safe.

Statement from Shake Shack

"We are deeply troubled by the events that took place at the Third Ward Shack on Thursday. We wish the victim of this terrible act a full and speedy recovery. The safety of our team and guests is our top priority, and violence has no place in our Shacks. We’re working closely with the authorities as they investigate this incident."