Police officers shot and killed a person in Milwaukee on Tuesday about five blocks outside of the Republican National Convention’s outer security perimeter, officials said.
The man was shot by officers with the Columbus, Ohio, police department, according to a statement released by that city’s police division. Thousands of officers from multiple jurisdictions are in Milwaukee providing additional security for the convention that began Monday and concludes Thursday.
The Columbus Police Department, as well as the chief of staff for Milwaukee’s mayor and a spokeswoman for the convention’s joint command center, all said there was nothing to suggest the shooting was related to the convention itself.
Milwaukee residents and activists quickly converged on the site of the shooting, many of them expressing outrage about the involvement of a police department in town because of the convention. Dozens of police officers stood behind police tape at the scene, declining to answer questions about what had happened.
“They came into our community and shot down our family right here at a public park,” said Linda Sharpe, a cousin of the man who was killed. “What are you doing in our city, shooting people down?”
Sharpe said her cousin, who she identified as Samuel Sharpe, lived in a tent encampment across the street from King Park, where the shooting occurred.
Residents said the man was well known among locals and others who lived in and near the encampment.
Kenneth Johnson, a volunteer with Friends Without Shelter, said he often dropped off food to the man and others who lived in the tents — and questioned what an out-of-state officer had been doing at the location.
“They shouldn’t have jurisdiction to be in this area. This isn’t near where the zones are,” Johnson said. “These are tent communities over here, they shouldn’t be over here.”
In a statement, the Columbus Police Department said the shooting was “within the operational zone to which our officers were assigned.”
The Columbus Police Department has received attention because of its special unit deployed to Milwaukee that works to improve police-community relationships and had a visible role in guiding the largely uneventful protests on Monday.
The shooting happened near King Park, roughly a mile from the convention center, where a small group of protesters gathered before marching on 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 adult male was shot and killed. An autopsy was scheduled for Wednesday.
The Milwaukee Police Department didn’t respond to an email seeking more details about Tuesday’s shooting.