Knife wielding man shot dead blocks away from the RNC, involved officers from out of town

MILWAUKEE (WBBM NEWSRADIO) — A knife wielding man was shot dead by police just blocks away from the RNC. The five officers that opened fire were in town as part of the RNC security detail.

“The officer observed a subject armed with a knife in each hand, engaged in an altercation with another unarmed individual,” said Milwaukee Police Chief Jeffrey Norman.

A press conference was held more than 6 hours after a homeless veteran in his 40’s, identified by those who knew him as Samuel Sharpe, was shot dead by police officers from Columbus, Ohio.

Norman says five officers opened fire on the man.

“The officers identified themselves as police officers and made several commands to the suspect to drop the knife. The subject refused these commands and charged at the other individual with the knives.”

The Milwaukee Police Chief confirms that the officers are in town as part of the RNC security detail. It’s unclear what the next steps will be and it will take further communication with the Columbus Police Department.

No Milwaukee police officers were present at the time of the deadly shooting.

“They should have just biked away,” said Alan Chavoya, outreach chair for the Milwaukee Alliance.

The community began to gather at the site of the shooting. Many were angry and said that in several community meetings leading up to the RNC concern was raised about this exact scenario, out of town police patrolling unfamiliar areas.

Chavoya says they were promised that wouldn’t be the case.

“That's what we were told. We asked Chief Norman, ‘Where are they going to be?’ And we were told repeatedly, Chief Norman is on record saying that they're not going to be here.”

Video of the incident has been circulated, and police worn body cam footage will be released according to Columbus Police Department Policy.

A vigil for the man shot had already been organized by local community members and started at 8 p.m. Tuesday night near the site of the shooting.

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