MILWAUKEE — A 49-year-old man is dead after an officer-involved shooting Saturday night. It happened by a bar near downtown Milwaukee. That man has been identified by family as Anthony Taylor.
Assistant Police Chief Michael Brunson said that officers were called to the area near Vel R. Phillips and West Reservoir outside Lounge 340 just after 11 p.m. for a report of a man with a gun.
“As they confronted that individual, officers discharged their firearms at the suspect fatally wounding him,” Brunson said.
No officers were injured during the incident, according to police.
One of the owners of Lounge 340 told TMJ4 News that the man killed in the shooting was his business partner, and that they were celebrating the bar’s one-year anniversary when it happened.
The bar’s windows are now boarded up where the co-owner said police tried to get inside. Surveillance cameras captured the sound of a couple of gunshots, and screams echoing through the neighborhood.
Brandis Ohlsson was home and heard commotion outside.
“It was like everybody was exiting the bar all at once and it was just tons of people down the road,” Ohlsson said.
Seconds later she heard the ringing of gunfire.
“It was like pow, pow, pow, pow,” Ohlsson said.
Robin Miller and Tobias Miscevic said the owners of the bar made a real effort to fix up the spot.
“The bar owners seem to want to have a good relationship with us here in neighborhood,” Miller said.
They said they haven’t experienced an incident of this magnitude in the years they’ve lived there.
“People just have to stop resorting to violence when they can't talk something out,” Miscevic said.
“There's a lot that I love about this city, but I think you know we've yet to see any kind of impactful change occur,” Miller said.
However, this doesn't stop them or Ohlsson from living their lives.
“It's America 2020 like where it happens everywhere you know, and it just so happens, it happened outside our front door this time,” Ohlsson said.
Per protocol, the two officers involved in the shooting were placed on administrative leave and the Waukesha Police Department is leading the investigation. Both officers have two years on the job and are 27 and 23 years old.
