It was unclear how many rounds the officer fired.
Advertisement
The businesses that burned included a BMO Harris branch, a BP gas station, an O’Reilly Auto Parts store and a beauty supply store.
Police say Smith was fleeing a traffic stop and was armed with a handgun when he was shot by the officer, who is also black. Three squad cars were damaged, the windows of a store were broken, a vehicle and numerous dumpsters were set on fire. The chaos continued early Monday morning.
A night of peace for Milwaukee? .
Barrett warned parents and guardians that police will be strictly enforcing the city’s 10 p.m. curfew for teenagers. The curfew is normally in effect in the city during the school year, which begins August 31.
After two nights of violent unrest in which 11 law enforcement officers were injured and a man suffered a life-threatening gunshot injury, Milwaukee braced Monday for a 10 p.m. curfew for teens.
“We see great improvement over yesterday”, said Flynn. Six people had been arrested Monday, he added.
“We have to have calm”, Barrett said at the news conference.
Flynn noted that residents holding prayer circles and a barbecue was “certainly very encouraging”.
The violence over the weekend had prompted Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker to declare a state of emergency on Sunday. The men fled the auto, and the officers followed, shooting Smith in the arm and chest when he failed to put his gun down, Barrett said. Mayor Tom Barrett singled out groups of young people on the streets of the Sherman Park neighborhood who he said were intent on causing trouble. Police said the officer shot Smith after he failed to comply with orders to put his gun down.
She also said that she wishes others would try to understand where she was coming from.
Dominique Heaggan-Brown, 24, who killed Sylville Smith during a pursuit last Saturday, has been with the Milwaukee Police Department for six years. He will be placed on administrative duty during an investigation. “I don’t want anyone to be violent”, she said. The state is investigating. Since Smith’s death, rioters in Milwaukee have torched several buildings, and some sought to hunt down and attack passing white people.
The police shooting brought numerous festering racial tensions to surface.
Alderman Khalif Rainey said the area has been a “powder keg” for potential violence throughout the summer. “I can’t get him back”. “This community of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, has become the worst place to live for African-Americans in the entire country”.
The leader of the Black Panthers in Milwaukee met with the city’s Common Council president to press for changes to economic and social issues he says underlie recent violence in a predominantly minority neighborhood.
Racial tensions have long permeated the city.
Advertisement
The sister of a black man shot to death by a Milwaukee police officer says the two men knew each other from high school.
