What can be done about the violence? Alderman: "I don't think we can police our way out of this"
MILWAUKEE (WITI) -- It was a very violent Easter weekend in Milwaukee -- with seven shootings occurring this weekend -- five of them within a two-hour period on Saturday, April 4th. Things didn't seem to slow down as the work week began. Early Monday morning, April 6th, police were on the scene of a homicide. This, as Milwaukee alderman is working to turn troublemakers into peacemakers.
Shortly after 1:00 a.m. Monday, police were called out to the 2300 block of N. Buffum Street. They say a 26-year-old Milwaukee man was shot while inside a vehicle. He was taken to the hospital, where he later died. The victim has been identified as Courtney Franklin.
There is seemingly no easy answer to the problem of violence in Milwaukee, and city leaders expected it would get worse as the weather gets warmer. City leaders are working to prepare programs aimed at combating the violence.
A breakdown of the shooting incidents that occurred this weekend is as follows:
FOX6 News has learned the shooting that occurred near 27th and Capitol, involving a 30-year-old Milwaukee man who was shot while in a vehicle pulling out of a gas station -- and the shooting on N. Teutonia Saturday, involving a 32-year-old Milwaukee man shot during a funeral involved the same suspect.
"It's time to wake up," Milwaukee Alderman Ashanti Hamilton said.
Many of the shootings that have occurred in recent days have happened in Alderman Hamilton's district.
"May is supposed to be Violence Prevention Month. Across City Hall, at the Mayor's Office , many community partners throughout the city -- we've come together," Alderman Hamilton said.
Hamilton says there are plans for police and community leaders to meet with those who may be the ones responsible for bringing guns and violence to the streets of Milwaukee -- to open up a dialogue. Former gang leaders and former convicts are helping in this effort.
"Getting folks who may be carrying those weapons, the ones that may be purchasing them for other folks, the ones that may have people living in their houses that may have access to those weapons participating in this discussion about -- how is it that we can get them to understand that the person they may be saving is themselves? I don't think we can police our way out of this," Alderman Hamilton said.