Brian Young and his Mother

UPDATE, November 24, 2008: Mom charged with giving gun to son

A Milwaukee mother was charged Monday with pulling a 9mm handgun out of her purse and handing it to her 16-year-old son so he could shoot a carload of teens arguing with him about a previous playground beating.

Wanda Young, 45, was charged with intentionally giving a dangerous weapon to a child and party to second-degree endangering safety while armed, felonies that carry a maximum penalty of 13 1/2 years in prison.

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UPDATE: Mother, two teens arrested in triple shooting

Two 16-year-old boys have been arrested in connection with a shooting on the city's northwest side that left three teens wounded this morning, Milwaukee police spokeswoman Anne E. Schwartz said.

Police also arrested the mother of one of the suspects, Schwartz said.

...Brian Lellnell Young, 16, was arrested about 3:30 p.m. near N. 35th and W. Vliet streets, Schwartz said.

...The other suspect was arrested earlier in the day, Schwartz said.

The three victims - a 14-year-old girl and two boys, ages 15 and 17 - suffered non-life-threatening injuries, Flynn said.

One of the victims was walking his girlfriend to a bus stop this morning when he encountered some people, one of whom left the scene and later returned with his mother.

One of the victims also brought additional family members to the scene and the fight continued, with some people wielding baseball bats.

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Shooter, 16-year-old Brian Young

More dysfunction in Milwaukee...

From the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

Milwaukee police say a woman supplied her 16-year-old son with a gun to settle a playground scuffle on the city's northwest side where the youth shot and wounded three other people this morning.

The victims, ages 14, 17, and 23 are being treated for their injuries, none of which are believed to be life-threatening, according to Police Chief Edward Flynn.

Police said today they are actively seeking the shooter, Brian Lellnell Young, who fled after wounding three people in a neighborhood near N. 95th and W. Brown Deer Road just after 8 a.m. today. The car ended up at a nearby Paratech ambulance lot, where officers gathered information on the shooting suspect.

Police Chief Edward Flynn appeared during a press conference this morning with Mayor Tom Barrett and members of the city's Fugitive Apprehension Team, whose officers were provided information and a photo of Young as they search for him today.

"This team is going to find him before the day is over," he said.

Good Lord.

What a terrible mother!

Is that being too judgmental?

Do I need to understand what sort of hardships the mother has endured?

No.

There's no excuse.

Who gives their child a gun to settle a dispute???

You can't blame poverty or a heartless society or having been abused or any of the myriad of usual excuses hauled out to explain away anti-social behavior.

This mother is an absolute disgrace.

According to Flynn, the shooting stemmed from an altercation that occurred last night on a playground.

One of the victims was walking his girlfriend to a bus stop this morning when he encountered some people, one of whom left the scene and later returned with his mother.

One of the victims also brought additional family members to the scene and the fight continued.

Young's mother, according to Flynn, had retrieved a semi-automatic handgun from a bag prior to the fight. She provided the handgun to her son, Flynn said.

Young fired one round in the air and several more shots at the victims as they fled in their mother's car.

Mayor Tom Barrett called on the mother to turn herself in as well as her son.

"We need parents to be parents, not accomplices," he said.

Here's more, from TMJ 4:

Police say the primary suspect is 16-year-old Brian Young. They describe him as being five foot eight inches tall and 160 pounds. He has a tattoo on his right arm that says “Problem” and a tattoo on his left arm that says “Solver.”

Police say the suspect was arrested as a 13-year-old for burglary and was arrested last May for burglary.

Milwaukee Police Chief Edward Flynn and Mayor Tom Barrett had harsh words regarding the incident during a news conference Wednesday morning.

“This team is going to find him before the day is over. We’ve got enough problems out here without our parents being an important part of the situation we’re dealing with. We’re going to be very interested in locking up the suspect and clearly we’re going to be very interested in talking to his mother,” Chief Flynn said.

“This obviously is a horrifying situation where you have a mother of a 16-year-old who reportedly is involved by giving her 16-year-old a semi-automatic handgun. What we’re asking right now is she does something smart. She started out today on a bad note by doing something very stupid by giving her son this gun,” Mayor Barrett said.

“I’m asking this young man’s mother to do something smart now, and that is to turn her son in and turn herself in so that we can have some quiet in this part of town,” Mayor Barrett said.

Video.

Leaders in Milwaukee, especially those in the African-American community, need to condemn this and start holding people accountable.

There's no excuse for this shooting. None.

When politicians and preachers sell the culture of victimhood to people that only begets more victims.

I cannot get over the fact that Young's mother gave her son a gun.

I can't imagine that.

Obviously, this mother has raised her son to be a thug. She's a thug and she encourages him to be violent.

I suppose I shouldn't be surprised. This stuff shouldn't shock me anymore.

I guess it's good that it does.
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Watch Mayor Tom Barrett and Police Chief Ed Flynn's news conference.