VIOLENCE CRISIS IN MILWAUKEE

Really, what can you say about this?

From the Mlwaukee Journal Sentinel:

Eleven people were shot early this morning in three unrelated shootings and were taken to area hospitals for treatment, police said. All are expected to live.

In a fourth incident, two groups of people shot up each other's houses, authorities said. All of the shootings took place within the span of 2 1/2 hours beginning at 1:10 a.m. on Milwaukee's north side.

Police gave these details:

Four men got into a fight at 1:10 a.m. at the Autumn Bar, 2579 N. Teutonia Ave., and one of them came back with a gun and fired randomly into the bar from an open door, hitting four patrons. A 25-year-old man was shot in the upper right chest, a 23-year-old was shot in the left thigh, an 18-year-old woman was shot in both arms and a 22-year-old male was shot in the right thigh. The shooter fled.

Ten minutes later, an argument at Ike's Lounge, 2432 W. Garfield Ave., began when one patron spilled a drink on another patron. The argument spilled out onto the sidewalk, and when some of the patrons saw guns they ran back into the bar. The victims were injured by shots fired from outside that went through the walls and windows of the bar. A 20-year-old female was struck in the lower back, a 26-year-old man was hit in the left leg, a 29-year-old man was hit in the right ankle, a 30-year-old man was hit in the right buttocks and back, a 33-year-old female was hit in the back and a 54-year-old woman was shot in both ankles.

About two hours later, at 2:18 a.m., two men, ages 45 and 48, were walking in the 2800 block of W. Clarke St. when a passenger in a passing car fired a shot at them. The 45-year-old was struck once in the stomach. The men told police that they did not know the occupants of the car.

Ten minutes after that, police received a call that multiple shots had been fired into a house in the 3900 block of N. 40th St. Police said the occupants of that house then drove over to a house in the 5900 block of N. 68th St. and fired multiple shots into that house. Two men, ages 26 and 29, were in custody this morning.

An earlier, unrelated shooting occurred about 9:55 p.m. Friday. Police said a 42-year-old woman was shot in the right leg after a gunshot fired from a car went through her front door in the 1900 block of N. 32nd St. The woman told police she was walking toward her house when a passenger in the car said something that scared her and she began running to get inside. She was shot just after she closed her front door. She said she did not recognize the shooter.

The good news: All are expected to survive. Thank God there were no deaths due to all this gunfire.

The bad news: ELEVEN PEOPLE WERE WOUNDED IN 3 SHOOTINGS WITHIN 3 HOURS. TWO GROUPS OF PEOPLE SHOT UP EACH OTHER'S HOUSES. A WOMAN WAS SHOT INSIDE HER HOME WHEN A BULLLET FIRED FROM A CAR WENT THROUGH HER FRONT DOOR.

What a bloody start to the weekend!

All this violence in the dead of winter.

You'd think it was the middle of a long, hot summer.

You can blame poverty, hopelessness, whatever.

I blame the people doing the shooting. It's a choice -- a horrible, illegal, immoral choice.