Milwaukee police are investigating three fatal shootings from Wednesday, including one that killed a teen boy.
The homicides push Milwaukee’s total to 74 on the year, compared to 55 as of the same date in 2021, when the city broke its homicide record for the second straight year.
Shootings unfolded within five hours
Police released limited information about the incidents, and even fewer details were available in the death of the teen, who was identified Thursday as Heavion Scott of Milwaukee. Police are unsure where that shooting occurred.
It wasn't immediately clear what Scott's correct age is. Police reported Thursday he is 15, while the Milwaukee County Medical Examiner's Office provided a birth date showing he is 14.
The three shootings also mark four homicides in a two-day span, after Keno L. Scott Jr., 22, of Racine was killed in a shooting north of Lincoln Park on Tuesday. A second man was injured in the same incident, and police expect to forward charges to the Milwaukee County District Attorney’s Office after making an arrest.
The three incidents on Wednesday occurred within five hours of each other.
Arthur B. Williams, 32, of Milwaukee was shot and killed around 1:42 p.m. on the 2400 block of South 5th Place. Police said it was the result of an argument and that a suspect has been identified.
Scott was brought toa hospital at about 6:30 p.m., where he later died. Ten minutes after, police received a report of a shooting that killed Sylvester J. Toliver, 52, on the 4300 block of West Lisbon Avenue. Police said suspects have not been identified in either incident.
Anyone with any information is asked to contact Milwaukee police at 414-935-7360, or to remain anonymous, contact Crime Stoppers at 414-224-Tips or use the P3 Tips app.
Violence comes days after two teens were killed in weekend shooting
The shootings come after two teens — William Harrison Jr., 15, and Javarius D. Fowler, 16 — were killed in a shooting Saturday that injured another 14-year-old outside of a McDonald’s restaurant at 4925 W. Hampton Ave. Police said several individuals opened fire on each other after an argument.
Ald. Khalif Rainey, who represents the area, offered condolences to the family in a statement Wednesday.
“The horror that gunfire brings is not something to normalize, and we must do everything we can to break the mindset that brings firearms into any argument or confrontation,” Rainey said. “Gun violence begets more gun violence, and death.”
Rainey said he “strongly recommends” residents reach out to the city’s team of violence interrupters, called 414Life, whenever they see a potential incident with guns developing. The team can be reached at 414-439-5525.
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While homicides overall are up compared to last year, gun violence against juveniles has continued at the same, elevated pace from 2021.
Police have reported a total of eight juvenile victims of homicides in Milwaukee so far in 2022, matching the same number as of the same date in 2021. Nonfatal shootings in 2022 include 25 juvenile victims as of May 5, virtually same from the year before.
But the raw count of juvenile victims of gun violence and homicides has increased since a historic wave of violence developed in Milwaukee in 2020, just as the COVID-19 pandemic arrived. From 2016 through 2019, the city saw between 54 and 61 juvenile victims annually, according to the Milwaukee Homicide Review Commission.
In 2020, the city saw 99 juvenile victims. In 2021, there were 137.
Complex factors at play as violent crime rate remains at historic levels
Milwaukee’s historic violent crime came as cities across the nation also dealt with a rise in homicides. From 2019 to 2020, the U.S. saw a 29% rise in homicides, the largest jump from one year to the next since at least 1960, a New York Times analysis found.
In general, local officials and criminologists and tied the nationwide surge in violent crime to the wide-ranging affects of the COVID-19 pandemic, which disrupted school, work and social service outreach for millions of Americans.
Local officials have also taken aim at the combination of poor conflict resolution skills and the accessibility of firearms. Combined, officials have said more arguments between people are escalating to fatal violence.
Year after year, about a third of all homicides and nonfatal shootings in Milwaukee are attributed to arguments, according to the Homicide Review Commission. Another third of such incidents do not have an identified primary factor.
Gun sales hit record highs nationally in 2020. Sales also rose in Wisconsin the same year, but fell 10% in 2021, according to SafeHome.org. Nevertheless, 2021 sales in the statewere up 163% compared to 2002.
In Milwaukee, police have seen gun recoveries climb 25% from 2019 to 2021. This year, recoveries were up 12% compared to last year as of April 1.
According to researchers, many factors come into play with regard to youth violence, including family influences, poverty, chronic and traumatic stress and academic achievement, among others.
Access to guns has also been cited as a factor. A 2006 study by the Harvard School of Public Health found that for every one-percentage point increase in household gun ownership, youth homicidesby firearmincreased by 2.8% to 3.8% depending on the age.
That comparesto a 4.1% increase for firearm homicides of adult women and a 3.2% increase for adult men.
Contact Elliot Hughes at [email protected] or 414-704-8958. Follow him on Twitter@elliothughes12.
