Woman shot over dog, Milwaukee man found guilty at trial
Douglas Hamsher
MILWAUKEE - A Milwaukee man accused of shooting his neighbor in 2022 over a dispute about her dog has been found guilty at trial.
A jury found 72-year-old Douglas Hamsher guilty of first-degree reckless injury – but not guilty of two counts of first-degree recklessly endangering safety. He now faces up to 25 years in prison and is scheduled to be sentenced on Nov. 10
The shooting happened near 79th and Hampton on Aug. 14, 2022. The victim, Gertrude Byrd, shared her story with FOX6 News at the time.
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Byrd said she lived next door to Hamsher for eight years at the time, and "never had a problem" with him until the shooting. She told FOX6 she was outside as her two kids rode their bikes, and said Hamsher got upset after her dog jumped his fence. A criminal complaint states he threatened to shoot the dog before opening fire.
"I told him, I said, ‘If you shoot my dog, you’re going to have to shoot me, too,’" said Byrd. "He started swearing. He started saying all this crazy stuff. Like, he made some racial slurs, and he started shooting."
Gertrude Byrd
The complaint states police recovered five bullet casings at the scene. Byrd was hit in the shoulder and taken to a hospital. Bullets also hit her garden and her home.
When police went to arrest Hamsher, the complaint states he was on his porch with his gun next to him. He admitted once in custody to pulling out the gun and shooting Byrd.