MILWAUKEE — It was a violent weekend in Milwaukee. Police say 24 people were shot with at least three people were killed.
Two of those incidents happened just blocks apart on the city’s south side. In those incidents, fourteen people were shot and one person died.
Ald. José Pérez is the president of Milwaukee’s Common Council and also represents Milwaukee's 12th District. He said violence must stop, and he plans to find solutions.
“Too many people gathered in one place, then we had some conflict and people are using violence to resolve their conflict and it is just unacceptable. Nobody in the neighborhood wants it, businesses are tired of it and the community is tired of it,” said Perez.
Perez said he encourages people to call the police, 211 or even his office if they hear of gatherings being planned that don’t have permits.
“I plan on going on the street and talking to some of the food vendors on the street this week and we are going to follow up especially with some of the businesses nearby, especially with what help they need to secure their parking lot, so it is not an issue moving forward,” he said.
Thomas Grainger has lived on 13th street near Burnham Street for over three decades. He lives directly across from the parking lot where nine people were shot on Saturday night.
“There’s times I want to move because it’s so bad out here that I can’t even hear myself think. Sometimes there’s shootings going on, they are shooting off fireworks and gunshots that you can’t tell which is which anymore,” said Grainger.
Perez said times are tough right now, but he said he thinks the neighborhood is strong, and that things will improve.
“We are resilient, and we are going to make sure this doesn’t happen again and as angry as people are and it is an appropriate response to what is going on, but we will come together, and we will figure it out.” said Perez.