Julius C. Burton Shoots 2 Police Officers

Eighteen-year-old Julius C. Burton did a lot of damage yesterday afternoon on the south side of Milwaukee.

He's responsible for creating a horrific scene. He showed no respect for life or for the law.

The thug has thrown his life away.

From the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

Two Milwaukee police officers were shot Tuesday afternoon on the near south side by a bicyclist whom they had stopped, police said. A suspect was arrested a short time later.

Both officers were shot more than once and were taken to Froedtert Hospital in Wauwatosa. One was in critical condition and one was in satisfactory condition, Police Chief Edward Flynn said.

The two 2nd District officers - who were in uniform and driving a marked police van - were shot by the bicyclist before they could draw their weapons around 3:10 p.m. in the 800 block of S. 2nd St., police said.

Flynn identified the officers as Bryan Norberg, 21, on the force six months, who was in satisfactory condition, and Graham Kunisch, 26, with 15 months on the force, who was in critical condition. Both were expected to survive.

A suspect whom Flynn identified as Julius C. Burton, 18, was arrested in a home in the 900 block of S. 3rd St. less than an hour later, and police recovered a gun. Police spokeswoman Anne E. Schwartz said he had broken into the house.

"This is a moment that tests our discipline as well as our resolve," Flynn said at the scene.

"This neighborhood came through today. At every key moment of this investigation, someone from the community stepped forward."

Several citizens assisted by tending to the wounded officers and following the suspect.

The police acted with skill and bravery to apprehend Burton.

Witnesses, people from the neighborhood, and law enforcement worked together to save the wounded officers' lives and arrest thug Burton.

The cooperation was very impressive. It's important to remember after something like this that there are more good people than bad.

Thank God the officers will survive. Thank God.

And thank God Burton is off the streets. He obviously posed an extreme danger to the community.

Watch a news conference with Milwaukee Police Chief Ed Flynn and Mayor Tom Barrett.



Flynn is really angry. He doesn't want the neighborhood to be stigmatized because Burton behaved so savagely.

Unfortunately, after something like this happens, it's only natural for people to be afraid. It's terribly unfair for the businesses in the area to suffer because of a false perception that the neighborhood isn't safe.

The thing is it's hard for a neighborhood to be thought of as safe when two officers were gunned down in the middle of the afternoon on a city street.

Flynn points out that the neighborhood is a low crime area. He notes that "bad things happen to good people, bad things happen in good neighborhoods."

That's true. However, I'm afraid that some people won't be able to get past their fears. In a real sense, Burton has victimized the Walker's Point business owners, employees, and area residents. That's the fall-out.

Barrett struck the right chords by showing concern for the injured officers and commending law enforcement and citizens for their actions.

But as he does in these cases, Barrett reiterated his lines about guns, as if a gun were responsible for the shootings.

Barrett said, "Finally, I think we all have to recognize that by having these crazy guns on the street, it's nothing but trouble. It is nothing but trouble. Here we've got an 18-year-old who's got this gun and he's shooting 'em right at police officers. This has got to stop. This has got to stop in this neighborhood and every neighborhood."

I agree. It has to stop. Only a really bad guy, a thug like Burton, would shoot at officers completely unprovoked. If a law-abiding citizen were carrying a gun, he or she wouldn't have fired it at the police. It's not the gun that's the problem. It's the thug. I doubt that Burton had the gun legally. I suspect that laws already in place had been broken by Burton.

I want to know more about him. Does he live in the neighborhood? Is he from Milwaukee? Is he a gang member?

Clearly, there's a major push to stress that the neighborhood is safe. Having a police captain speak and share crime statistics for the area, down 18% so far this year, indicates how hard they're trying to do damage control. The captain called the shootings an "isolated incident."

In general, I think Flynn and Barrett have handled this quite well.

They got out there, spoke with authority and showed compassion.

Flynn choked up when talking about the injured officers, saying that he spoke with their families, parent to parent. As the father of a police officer, Flynn understands how they feel. He said he's proud of the parents for sharing their sons with us.

I wonder how Burton's parents feel.