Community Service Officer Murdered Off-Duty In Neighbor Dispute

Milwaukee, WI – A Milwaukee community service officer was fatally shot during an off-duty dispute with a neighbor on Monday evening.

The incident occurred at about 6 p.m. on Aug. 31 in the area of South 22nd Place and West Barnard Avenue near the community service officer’s home, WISN reported.

Police arrested a 65-year-old suspect at the scene who allegedly shot the community service officer during a disagreement between neighbors, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported.

Acting Milwaukee Police Chief Michael Brunson said the community service officer had worked for the police department for four years.

Community service officers are not sworn police officers, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported.

A 2017 job description said community service officers are unarmed and respond to non-emergency police calls, help with accident investigations, take police reports, and assist in other tasks.

“This employee was beloved, well respected, and well liked,” Chief Brunson said. “This is a tragic day for the Milwaukee Police Department and for this city.”

The chief said he would be providing additional details on the 35-year-old community service officer’s murder, including his name, after all of his family had been notified, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported.

A neighbor told WISN that she rendered aid and tried to save the man’s life after he was shot.

She said the fallen community service officer’s brother is a Milwaukee police officer who responded to the scene when his brother was shot.

The neighbor said the officer performed CPR on his dying brother after he got there, according to WISN.

She also said she though the community service officer’s daughters were home when their father was shot.

Police have not yet said how many shots were fired or how many gunshot wounds the victim sustained, WISN reported.

The Milwaukee Police Department mourns the death of a Community Service Officer pic.twitter.com/ADrjXqlVHS

— Milwaukee Police (@MilwaukeePolice) September 1, 2020

"This is a tragic day for the Milwaukee Police Department and for this city," said @MilwaukeePolice Chief Michael Brunson on the Monday death of a 35-year-old Community Service officer. Police said he was shot after a dispute with a neighbor. pic.twitter.com/P4trhfJj0l

— Suzanne Spencer (@suzspencertv) September 1, 2020

It remained unclear what kind of dispute had led to the shooting and whether the community service officer and the neighbor who shot him had a confrontational history.

Chief Brunson said the Milwaukee Police Department’s Homicide Division was investigation the community service officer’s slaying, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported.