A 15-year-old boy died after a shooting on Milwaukee’s east side about an hour after the city’s lakefront fireworks show concluded.
The Milwaukee Police Department said the shooting took place about 11 p.m. Monday on the 2000 block of E. North Ave. The boy died at the scene.
Police are investigating the circumstances leading up to the shooting, however, they said it was likely the result of an argument.
Anyone with any information is asked to contact Milwaukee Police at (414) 935-7360 or to remain anonymous, contact Crime Stoppers at (414) 224-Tips or P3 Tips.
Victim is the 11th minor to die via homicide as numbers continue to rise in recent years
The 15-year-old is the 11th juvenile to die by homicide so far this year in Milwaukee, according to a Journal Sentinel database.
It continues a trend of more juveniles caught in the city’s gun violence. From 2016 to 2019, no more than 10 children died by homicide in Milwaukee, but 20 or more have been killed in each of the three years since then, according to police and the city’s Homicide Review Commission.
Twenty-seven juvenile homicide victims were reported in 2022, according to police.
Nationally, in 2020, firearm-related injuries surpassed motor vehicle crashes as the leading cause of death for young people, defined as persons 1 to 19 years old, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Criminologists and local officials have pointed toward a range of possible causes, including increased gun carrying, easy access to firearms and lingering effects of the pandemic, which may have had a larger impact on children.