Milwaukee shoplifting leads to shooting; 26-year-old charged
Brandon Beard-Piper
MILWAUKEE - A 26-year-old Milwaukee man is accused of shooting and wounding a man who was shoplifting from a gas station on the city's north side. Brandon Beard-Piper is charged with first-degree reckless injury in the case.
According to the criminal complaint, Milwaukee police were dispatched to a gas station near 35th and Townsend on Sunday, Sept. 22 for a shooting complaint. When officers arrived on the scene, they found a man who suffered a gunshot wound to the right side of his chest. No firearm was located near the victim, who was taken to Froedtert Hospital for treatment of his injuries.
When officers spoke with the shooting victim at the hospital, he stated he had gone to the gas station and shoplifted. The complaint says he "left the store with kitty litter and laundry detergent without paying for them. After he left the store, he was shot, and was not sure who had shot him," the complaint says.
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Officers recovered surveillance video from the gas station -- interior and exterior. The complaint says that video shows the defendant enter the gas station before the shooting victim. The complaint says the "defendant interacts with the cashier at the gas station briefly and then opens the door to exit. When he opens the door, (the shooting victim) runs past him while holding items without paying for them. (The shooting victim) runs around the corner away from the gas station and runs off camera. The defendant runs after him, points what appears to be a firearm in the direction (the shooting victim) ran off camera, and a muzzle flash is visible on the camera. The defendant then goes back to the store before leaving in his vehicle."
Investigators located and arrested the defendant on Monday, Sept. 23. In an interview, the defendant "admitted" to being at the gas station -- and he "ultimately admitted that he fired his gun at someone who had stolen from the gas station. The defendant believed the person he shot at was armed," the complaint says.
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Online court records indicated Beard-Piper is scheduled to make his initial appearance in Milwaukee County court on Saturday, Sept. 28.