Police and community members gather at the scene of a shooting of a homeless man near the site of the Republican National Convention (RNC) on the second day of the event on July 16, 2024 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. | Photo credit: Getty Images via AFP
Ohio police officers in Wisconsin before the Republican National Convention shot and killed a man wielding two knives near the convention, Milwaukee’s police chief said July 16.
Five members of the Columbus, Ohio, police department shot at the man, who had a knife in each hand, refused police orders and attacked an unarmed man before police fired, Milwaukee Chief Jeffrey Norman said at a news conference. According to the chief, two knives were found at the scene.
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Police have released CCTV footage showing officers on bicycles talking before one of them says: “He has a knife.”
Several officers then shout: “Drop the knife!” as they run towards two men standing in a street. When the armed man approached the unarmed man, police fired their weapons.
“Someone’s life was in danger,” Norman said. “These officers, who were not from this area, today took it upon themselves to take action and save someone’s life.”
Thousands of officials from several jurisdictions are in Milwaukee to provide extra security for the convention that started Monday and ends Thursday.
The shooting fueled the anger of residents who wondered why out-of-state officers were in their neighborhood, about a mile from the convention site.
Columbus police, the Milwaukee mayor’s chief of staff and a spokesman for the convention’s joint command center all said there was nothing to indicate the shooting was related to the convention itself.
A cousin and others identified the murdered man as 43-year-old Samuel Sharpe.
Milwaukee residents and activists quickly converged on the scene of the shooting, many of them expressing outrage over the involvement of a police department in the city over the convention. They kept a nightly vigil.
“They came into our community and shot our family here in a public park,” said Linda Sharpe, a cousin of the man who was killed. “What are you doing in our city, shooting people?”
Sharpe said her cousin lived in a tent encampment across the street from King Park, where the shooting occurred.
Residents said the encampment had long been a feature of the neighborhood, which is home to several social clinics and a shelter. Some said Milwaukee police officers are familiar with many of the people living in the tents and might have been able to de-escalate the situation.
David Porter, who said he knew Sharpe and was also homeless, was angry that officers from outside Milwaukee were in his neighborhood.
“If MPD would have been there, that man would still be alive,” Porter said, referring to Milwaukee police.
Norman, the Milwaukee chief, said 13 officers who were part of a Columbus bicycle patrol were within their assigned zone for a meeting when they saw the altercation.
“Officers observed an individual, armed with a knife in each hand, engaged in an altercation with another unarmed individual,” Norman said. They fired only after the armed man ignored multiple commands and walked toward the unarmed man, the chief said.
“This is a situation where someone’s life was in immediate danger,” Norman said.
The Columbus Police Department has received attention for its special unit deployed in Milwaukee that works to improve police-community relations and played a visible role in guiding Monday’s largely uneventful protests.
The shooting occurred near King Park, about a mile from the convention center, where a small group of protesters gathered before marching Monday. That demonstration was followed by dozens of Columbus police officers wearing blue vests that read: “Columbus Police Dialogue.”
The Milwaukee County Medical Examiner’s Office said an autopsy was scheduled for Wednesday.
