Asahel Ali
WAUKESHA, Wis. - A Waukesha man who prosecutors said was armed with a rifle a block from Waukesha North High School in April 2023 has been sentenced to one year in prison.
Court records show 19-year-old Asahel Ali reached a plea deal in the case on Wednesday. In addition to prison time, he was sentenced to two years of extended supervision. He was 17 years old at the time of the incident.
Case details
It happened around 12:30 p.m. on April 14, 2023. Waukesha police said students saw the teen with a pistol in the backyard of a home one block from the high school.
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According to a criminal complaint, a student reported the armed teen had a pillowcase over his head with two holes cut out for eyes and was crouched down aiming the gun as if "pointing to shoot at a squirrel." A witness told police they saw the same thing, but that they also saw the gun at one point aimed toward the high school.
Police deployed a "significant" presence to safeguard area schools and, once they were secured, searched for the teen. Based on prior encounters, an officer believed Ali may have been the teen involved. There was a March 23, 2023 incident in which he tried to get into Waukesha North High School, even though he is not a student there. The same officer saw Ali the morning of April 14, 2023 "acting bizarre in his front yard waving a baseball bat around."
Weapon recovered from 17-year-old in Waukesha
Ali was found a short time later in the backyard of his home near the school armed with the pistol. After talking with the teen, police said he peacefully surrendered to officers and was taken into custody without further incident. The gun and a 30-round magazine were recovered.
The complaint states a bullet hole was found in the living room of Ali's home near the school. The bullet was lodged inside a neighbor's garage, and he had the spent casing in his pocket.
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The complaint states Ali was taken to a hospital where, while handcuffed, he repeatedly said "I'm free." He became "physically resistive" there and scratched an officer, who was treated at the hospital for a laceration.
At the time of the Waukesha incident, court records indicate he was already out on bail for a Milwaukee County case – charged the previous year with taking and driving a vehicle without consent. He was ordered not to possess any dangerous weapons or firearms as a bail condition.