Shooting near Mitchell Park Domes; man dead, child wounded
MILWAUKEE - A shooting on Milwaukee's south side left a man dead and a child critically wounded Thursday, Oct. 19.
It happened near the Mitchell Park Domes around 4:30 p.m. Police said a 30-year-old was pronounced dead at the scene. A 5-year-old was taken to a hospital in critical condition but is now stable, police said.
Police said the 30-year-old man was driving northbound on Layton Blvd., stopped at the intersection of S. Layton Blvd. and W. Pierce St., when the suspect vehicle pulled up and fired multiple shots into the vehicle, striking the victims.
"A lot of traffic, I see everybody getting out of their cars screaming," said witness Xiomarie Vargas, who was with her 4-year-old child at the time. "I’m like, ‘It’s OK, it’s OK baby.’"
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FOX6 News at the crime scene found a still-running Acura SUV surrounded by evidence markers. Vargas said what she saw at the intersection of Pierce and Layton is hard to warp her mind around. She said she looked out her window and saw people giving the 30-year-old CPR on the ground.
"Everybody screaming and crying," she said. "I park my car, I see there’s a little kid in the car who’s also shot as well."
Police scene near Pierce and Layton
Vargas said it hits close to home, too. After stopping at the scene, she said she learned the 30-year-old was a family friend.
"It was just sad seeing his body just lifeless, just on top of the stretcher and seeing the kid too just crying with blood," said Vargas. "We just gotta stop the violence. We all have kids. We all have people who are looking up to us and to think one day that could be them or one of your family members it doesn’t hit until it is you.
"He was really known in Milwaukee. He has a lot of family and friends that care about him."
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As a mother of a young girl, Vargas said the shootings bring pain she can't imagine.
"She’s just as disturbed as I am with all this going on," she said. "I’m just shocked, had I not stopped at Walgreens a couple minutes before I would’ve been right in the crossfire heading the same direction he is."
What led to the shooting it not yet clear, and police are looking for whoever is responsible. Anyone with information is asked to call MPD at 414-935-7360; to remain anonymous, call Crime Stoppers at 414-224-TIPS or use the P3 tips app.
Editor's note: Milwaukee police issued a correction Friday on the victim's age. The story has been updated to reflect that new information, while the video at the top relays the information police shared as of Thursday night when it aired on FOX6 News at 9.