Tennesseans and Wisconsinites involved with the Builders' project. Photo by Baylor Spears/Wisconsin Examiner.

Madison School Board member Ali Muldrow said people who work in education know that the “worst day” is when children get hurt in school. 

“When the Abundant Life shooting happened, which was at a private Christian School very close to my home, it was just a really horrible day, and I think I realized it’s too late to talk about this,” Muldrow said. “It’s been too late and we can’t keep letting it be too late.”

A teacher and student were killed and six others were injured by a 15-year-old who brought a gun to Abundant Life Christian School, a private school in Madison, in December 2024. It is the deadliest school shooting on record in Wisconsin.

The shooting made national headlines, but it is just one example of children harmed by gun violence. According to the K-12 School Shooting Database, there were 332 school shootings in 2024. A 2024 report by Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Violence Solutions found firearms continue to be a leading cause of death for children and teens, and those who are Black are disproportionately the victims

Muldrow, who is running unopposed for another term on the Board this spring, said measures taken to try to prevent shooting deaths at school have not been enough. 

“All of the things that we’ve done to our students haven’t resolved this issue — whether it’s practicing and having drills or whether it’s making our schools harder places to get into,” Muldrow said. “None of that changes the reality that a 15-year-old went into their school, two guns, and killed multiple people, including themselves.”

Students from Madison Metropolitan School District walked out of class in December and marched to the state Capitol to demand something be done about gun violence. 

“They asked for two things,” Muldrow said. “They asked for laws related to gun storage and gun safety, and they asked for more mental health support within their education.”  

Muldrow said that adults should “honor” the demands of the students and build bridges across political divides to get the work done. She said having conversations is an important starting point. 

In the aftermath of the Madison school shooting, Muldrow said she wanted to organize an event to inspire people in the community to feel capable of making change. She turned to a group that tried to find solutions after a school shooting took place about two years ago and more than 620 miles away.

Tennesseans were left reeling in 2023 after a shooter killed three 9-year-olds and three adults at the private Christian Covenant elementary school. A nonprofit organization called Builders (formerly known as Starts With Us) that seeks to ease political polarization brought together a group of 11 Tennessee residents with a range of opinions on the issue of guns to discuss and come up with some solutions. 

Muldrow was part of a similar group in Wisconsin in 2024 that explored the debate on abortion. She saw a documentary about the Tennessee group and thought its approach could be a way for the community affected by the Abundant Life shooting to come together and find a way forward. 

Muldrow said that the point of the event she helped organize Sunday was not necessarily to “mirror or mimic what happened in Tennessee, but to learn from that collaborative attitude towards solutions.” 

More than 100 people attended the event at the Overture Center for the Arts in Madison, which included a screening of the documentary about the Tennesseeans’ journey and a panel discussion with two of the participants and a handful of Wisconsinites.

Charles Franklin, director of the Marquette Law School Poll noted during the panel that potential solutions to gun violence would look different for Wisconsin, given the difference in state laws and the general beliefs of residents in each state. A key point of disagreement among participants in the documentary centered on concealed carry permits and whether they should be mandated. Tennessee has allowed for permitless carry of handguns since 2021.

Wisconsin already requires a permit for concealed carry, however, and it’s mostly not a partisan debate, Franklin said. According to the most recent polling, about 65% of Wisconsinites support concealed carry, but only under certain circumstances. 

“We do have a concealed carry law that requires a permit. When the Legislature has considered concealed carry without a permit, we found only about 20% support for that, about 80% opposition,” Franklin said. “There is a distinction that the public makes… public opinion is quite opposed to that form of concealed carry, but solidly in favor of [concealed carry] with a permit.”

Franklin said he thought proposals that originate from and garner support among Second Amendment supporters should be celebrated. He noted that there is a Republican bill that’s been introduced in Wisconsin that would create a tax exemption for gun safes. 

“That’s a small, incremental matter of, what, 5 ½% on the cost of the safe, but on the other hand, when you think of children’s access to guns in the home, access to those guns by burglars or other circumstances,” it could be a significant step, Franklin said. 

Franklin said the idea that “if you don’t get everything you’ve got nothing” is a huge barrier to progress. 

“I would just stress that incremental improvements are still improvements,” Franklin said.

Steve D’Orazio, founder and president of the Oregon, Wis., gun shop and range Max Creek Outdoors said during the panel that his business works hard to educate people who acquire guns. He said he has been working with a doctor at the UW Health System to educate doctors on guns and have them talk with their patients about gun safety and awareness, including keeping guns locked away. 

“My goal is the safety of our children,” D’Orazio said. 

The solution to school shootings he emphasized the most was implementing metal detectors in all schools. 

“Every one of us here today walked through the front door of this building and we walked through a metal detector, but our schools don’t have metal detectors,” D’Orazio said. “I sell guns. That’s our business. There’s so much education that we do at our shop to make sure that the gun owner doesn’t get hurt and that they use it correctly…, but every school district should have a metal detector. That’s how you’re going to stop this stuff.” 

The documentary shows the Tennessee group taking and presenting their recommendations at the Tennessee State Capitol. Those recommendations included temporary removal of firearms based on risk of violence, developing tools to support responsible gun ownership, expanding the role of school resource officers, investing in community to reduce trauma and developing gun literacy resources for schools, communities and media. 

Tennessee leaders did pass a bill in 2024 requiring education in schools about guns, a policy similar to the recommendation of the group. Though the end result was not exactly as participants imagined it. 

Adam Luke, a Tennessee marriage and family counselor and conservative, spoke to how the “rush to be right” by lawmakers on the issue may diminish the effectiveness of the legislation.  

“People will not be able to opt out [of the curriculum]. Now, I would like to turn to conservative America and say, ‘If you did not have the ability to opt your child out of sex education would that bother you?’” Luke asked. “This is what happens when you have super majorities.” 

Luke said that the Tennessee Department of Education also doesn’t have the curriculum for teachers and just recently closed the public response period. He said lawmakers were so quick to want to get something done that they’ve created a policy that may not be effective.

“Let’s say that we did something, but guess what? We forgot to actually give you the resources to be successful with it,” Luke said. 

Political polarization was on display following the Madison school shooting. Muldrow said she has been “saddened” by the divide.

“It’s really hard to see our Legislature be so divided and in such a contentious relationship with our governor, and it’s a shame because all of these people represent us and there is an expectation that they work together,” Muldrow said. 

Since the shooting, Gov. Tony Evers has launched the Office of Violence Prevention and has proposed adopting further gun safety policies including stricter background checks and red flag laws. Republican lawmakers were quick to criticize Evers’ proposals and have been developing their own proposals for addressing school shootings, including financial support for the Office of School Safety and allowing teachers to be armed. 

The Madison Common Council and the Dane County Board of Supervisors both passed resolutions urging the Legislature to take action and implement common-sense gun measures. 

Steven Olikara, a former candidate for Wisconsin Senate and founder of the nonpartisan organization the Future Caucus, said the actions of local leaders and Evers are a step forward, but the state needs to take bigger steps. 

“Those bigger steps will come from bringing Democrats and Republicans together in a real way and building trust,” Olikara said. “And I think conversations like this can help create that kind of momentum. [When people are at] each other’s throats, the kind of progress you make is very small and very incremental. When you have conversations like the one today, you can reach transformative change, and that’s really what we need.”

Tennessee educator Alyssa Pearman, who lost one of her students to gun violence, said the key is to keep showing up to have the conversations.

“You are going to be told no, and you are going to have people who have no interest in making a change and being a builder, but you keep showing up,” Pearman said. “You find people who want to do something, who want a better tomorrow, and you have conversations like these… This is the type of conversation that needs to be had, whether it’s in Wisconsin, whether it’s in Tennessee and whatever state where we have this crisis.”

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Bullets struck a school bus while it was transporting students with special needs in the Bronx, New York, reported ABC 7.

The incident occurred on Friday just before 2:20 p.m. The minibus drove through gunfire and pulled up to an address located about half a mile away from where the shooting took place.

Jose Polanco, a coworker of the school bus driver, told local news reporters that the driver told him he kept driving because his first thought was to get the children somewhere safe.

The bus was reportedly struck at least three times. One bullet struck the back window and two struck the side of the bus. The bus was transporting half a dozen students with special needs. No one inside the bus was injured.

Police said four suspects, all wearing black, were shooting at each other and the school bus got caught in the crossfire.

The shooting took place near a playground, with a school just down the block. The name of the school was not reported, at this writing. Teachers said the shooting sent the school into lockdown, sheltering nervous students and staff in place for about 30 minutes past dismissal.

The suspects fled on foot. One was wearing white stripes and black plants. The investigation is ongoing.

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Related: Ohio School Bus Transporting Multiple Students Hit by Gunfire
Related: Pennsylvania Student Arrested After Allegedly Bringing Gun on School Bus
Related: 15-year-old Shot and Killed While Getting Off School Bus in Georgia
Related: New York School Bus Struck by Bullet

The post New York School Bus Hit by Gunfire appeared first on School Transportation News.

Attorneys Nate Cade (far left) and Kimberley Motley (center) stand with the mother of Alvin Cole, Tracy (far right), and other members of Cole's family. (Photo by Isiah Holmes/Wisconsin Examiner)

A civil trial in Milwaukee’s federal courthouse over the fatal shooting of 17-year-old Alvin Cole by former Wauwatosa police officer Joseph Mensah ended in a hung jury on Thursday. After four days of hearing testimony and evidence, the eight-member jury was unable to come to a unanimous decision about whether Mensah used excessive and unreasonable force when he shot Cole on Feb. 2, 2020. 

A new trial has been set for September of this year, with pretrial preparations expected in August. The day began with closing arguments from attorney Nate Cade, who told the mostly white jury of seven women and one man to “remember who’s involved.” Cade showed a picture of Cole to the jury, saying, “He’s a kid, just a kid.”

Cade recounted the four days of testimony, starting with Cole’s father, Albert, who said he will be haunted by the memory of dropping off his son, the last time he saw him, “for the rest of his life.” Cade pointed to conflicting testimony about the shooting among the police officers who were there, and emphasized the testimony of David Shamsi, a combat veteran and FBI agent, who said Cole did not move or point a gun at Mensah before he fired.  

Another officer, Jeffrey Johnson, also testified that he did not see a weapon pointed at Mensah at the time of the shooting, and that Cole was on his hands and knees. Cade said that if Mensah had “paused a moment, Alvin Cole would still be alive.”

Plaintiffs’ attorneys also reminded the jury that after the shooting, Evan Olson, Mensah’s friend on the force, went off with Mensah in a squad car where they had an unrecorded conversation, in violation of polices stating officers should be kept separate after a shooting to avoid statement contamination. 

Cade stressed to the jury that in order for Mensah to be right, “everybody else has to be wrong,” and that Mensah had never apologized on the stand for the shooting.

Attorney Joseph Wirth, representing Mensah, said that night consisted of split second decisions. “Alvin Cole made catastrophically bad decisions,” said Wirth, arguing that Cole brought a gun to the mall, got into a fight, fled from and fired upon police, and then tried to fire again before Mensah killed him. “You can’t bring 20-20 hindsight,” said Wirth, urging the jurors to put themselves in Mensah’s shoes that night. Wirth refuted plaintiffs’ attorneys who said Mensah was bored in his own sector, and wanted some action. Wirth stressed that when an officer perceives danger, he has a duty to act and “it is not necessary [to prove] if this danger actually existed.” 

Wirth argued that Shamsi, who said the gun didn’t move at all, was still prepared to shoot Cole, and that the teen never stopped running, or indicated he wanted to surrender. 

Wirth also said that Cole pointed a gun both at Mensah and Olson, suggesting that the two officers are not contradicting each other. Plaintiffs’ attorneys asked for $22 million in damages, which Wirth called outrageous. 

The jury went into deliberations shortly after noon, and returned around 4:30 p.m. saying they were  unable to come to a decision. They were told by the judge to go back into deliberations until 5 p.m. When they were called back, they had still been unable to reach a unanimous decision. Judge Lynn Adelman said one main issue was the quality of squad car videos. The jury was excused, and a new trial was set for Sept. 8, at 9 a.m.

The day ends with armed marshals, and words from the family 

At the end of the day as the jury returned, at least five U.S. marshals, several of them armed, entered the court room. The arrival of the armed marshals caused a stir  in the courtroom from the gallery to the plaintiffs’ bench and attracted the attention of  Judge Adelman himself. “I don’t want marshals here,” Adelman said. It’s unclear why the marshals were there, but attorney Cade told media and the judge that it was inappropriate, and could send the wrong message to a jury. “People get screened coming into this courthouse,” said Cade. “The family has not shown out…They have not done anything dangerous, they have not made any threats.” 

Tracy Cole, Alvin’s mother, said she was satisfied with the presentation of her family’s case. “I can’t complain,” she said, “they showed the evidence, everything on the table. We ain’t gave up, we’re not going to give up.” Undiscouraged by the hung jury she said, “it just make us fight more.” Cole did say that she was hurt when she wasn’t allowed to testify during the trial. “I thought that if I would’ve spoke on it, I thought it will let some of the relief off of me, but now it haven’t because I still have that pain inside,” said Cole. “It hurts, but I’m dealing with it.”

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Detective Joseph Mensah (right) testifies before the Senate Committee on Judiciary and Public Safety earlier this year. (Photo by Isiah Holmes/Wisconsin Examiner)

The third day of the federal civil trial into the death of 17-year-old Alvin Cole featured testimony from Joseph Mensah, the officer who fatally shot Cole in 2020. Now a detective for the Waukesha County Sheriff’s Department, Mensah was an  officer in the  Wauwatosa Police Department for five years, during which time he  killed Cole after a foot pursuit. 

Mensah testified about the shooting on Feb  2, 2020, at the Mayfair Mall, where he responded to a call about a disturbance involving a gun. Mensah visited the mall twice, leaving the area he was assigned to patrol to investigate the disturbance and then returning a second time when he heard on his radio that there was a foot chase underway. He arrived both times in an unmarked squad car and did not announce his presence on the police radio, something his colleagues described as a best practice but which he testified was unnecessary.

Mensah disagreed with the testimony of Wauwatosa officer David Shamsi, who testified that he was closest to Cole when he was shot, and that Cole was on the ground and had not moved when Mensah fired. Mensah said Shamsi was mistaken. The contradictory statements between Shamsi, Mensah (who claimed Cole turned to aim a gun at Mensah, either over or under his own shoulder) and other officers on scene including Evan Olson (who said Cole pointed the gun in a completely different direction from Mensah) created the issue that opened the door to this week’s jury trial in Milwaukee’s federal courthouse.

While Shamsi holds the rank of major in the U.S. military and is now an FBI agent, Mensah asserted that he was a new officer at the time of the shooting. Mensah said that since he had five years of experience at Wauwatosa and was SWAT trained, he had more extensive and relevant tactical knowledge and experience than Shamsi. In his deposition, referenced on the stand, Mensah said that besides Olson, none of the officers on scene during the Cole shooting — including Shamsi — had the level of training and experience that he had. Shamsi’s military combat experience “doesn’t mean anything,” he testified, “especially in a situation like this.” 

On the stand, Mensah described how he arrived at the Mayfair Mall on Feb. 2, 2020, and helped officers and mall security chase the fleeing teenagers. As they ran, a single gunshot went off — later determined to be fired by Cole and resulting in a self-inflicted gunshot wound which broke bones in Cole’s arm. When Mensah heard the shot, he pulled out his own weapon. Mensah said at that point he couldn’t recall how far he was from Cole, despite having replayed the shooting in his head repeatedly and viewed video and other reports from the shooting over the last five years. Mensah said that when the first shot went off, he didn’t see a muzzle or knew who fired. Cole fell to the ground and then 10 seconds later Mensah fired five shots. Later, he said Cole had pointed his gun in Mensah’s direction. 

Mensah said that the entire situation was “very fluid” and quick, and repeatedly said “I don’t remember” or “I don’t recall” throughout questioning from the Cole family’s  attorneys. Attorney Nate Cade referred to Mensah’s deposition testimony in 2023, in which he said he saw Cole fall to his hands and knees, and then crawl a short distance towards a concrete construction barrier in the Cheesecake Factory restaurant parking lot. Mensah said on the stand that although Cole turned towards him, he didn’t know if would  use the term “tucked” to describe his posture, as his colleague officer Olson did in testimony Tuesday. When asked if Cole reached under or over his shoulder, as he had previously testified, on the stand Mensah said, “I don’t recall.” 

Mensah testified that he only “vaguely” recalls his interview with detectives who investigated Cole’s shooting as part of the Milwaukee Area Investigative Team (MAIT). During his deposition, Mensah said that he saw a flash of light as he chased Cole, which he acknowledged could have been flashlights from officers and mall security. During his initial interview with detectives after the shooting in 2020, Mensah said he had not seen any muzzle flash, and on the stand Wednesday he said he couldn’t account for what MAIT detectives did or did not put in their report. Mensah said that once Cole was on the ground, he paused to assess his surroundings before he fired. When he saw a gun in Cole’s hand and felt it was being pointed at him, Mensah said he began to “prepare” his body to be shot, acquired his “target,” which was Cole, and then fired.

While questioning Mensah, Cade noted that several things that Mensah said he yelled to officers such as “the gun is out” — meaning he sees a firearm — are not in the police investigative report, nor does MAIT’s report mention that Mensah yelled “drop the gun” at Cole, as Mensah said he had done. Mensah said that the situation was “incredibly traumatic” to him and that when it comes to what he does and does not remember, “the brain works in mysterious ways.” 

Video and audio from Olson’s squad car captured after the shooting, played during the trial, captured someone yelling curse words, and then saying, “I can’t believe I just shot somebody.” Mensah said he could hear the curse words and acknowledged that it was him, but said that he couldn’t understand the words after that. Still, he argued that the recording did not show him saying what attorneys claimed, and that it was “random” radio chatter from other people. Cade argued that if it was Mensah saying those words, that suggests that he did not intend to shoot Cole, which he said showed that it was an instance of excessive use of force. The Cole family’s lawyers also highlighted Mensah’s statement after the shooting that “I was overwhelmed with emotions,” suggesting it showed that he had lost control. Mensah said some of his microphone equipment may have been malfunctioning, distorting the record of what he said at the time, but acknowledged that he was “amped up.” 

Cole family attorneys also brought up that Olson and Mensah had not separated themselves that night, which is required by MAIT protocols and is done to avoid contamination of statements. Mensah denied that he and Olson actually discussed anything about the shooting, and both officers said on the stand that they were friends then and remain friends today outside of work. When attorney Jasmyne Baynard, representing Mensah, questioned the officer, he said he grew up in the Wauwatosa area, and that he became an officer after seeing a friend get in trouble, and that he wanted to help people “truly in need.” He graduated from the police academy in 2012, and was hired by Wauwatosa in 2015, though he’d been an unarmed reserve officer since 2009. 

Answering questions about his actions on the night of Feb 2, 2020, Mensah said that police officers are not required to stay in their patrol sector, and that he went back to the mall after the foot pursuit was called out, because such pursuits can be unpredictable and dangerous. When he approached Cole on the ground, Mensah said he didn’t know the teen was hurt or that he’d shot himself. 

Mensah said that Cole didn’t do a “drastic turn around” to aim his gun, and that the motion he saw was “over the shoulder,” which contradicted his prior testimony. Mensah said that he couldn’t second-guess himself in the heat of the moment. “I don’t get that luxury in the fraction of a fraction of a second,” he said. 

“I’m not focusing on the gun anymore,” Mensah said, describing the moment as he prepared to fire. Instead, he said, he was focused on stopping a threat, and that he kept firing his weapon until he felt the threat was stopped. Mensah said he did not see a gun pointed at Olson, which Olson told MAIT in 2020 and testified to during the trial. During questioning, Mensah became emotional, and said, “I didn’t want to do it.” 

On the stand, Mensah was asked whether he felt either Shamsi (who didn’t see the gun or Cole move at all and was closest to Cole) or Olson (who was further away and said the gun was pointed at him, which would mean away from Mensah) were liars. Mensah said that he believes Shamsi was “mistaken” and then suggested the same about his friend Olson. Mensah said that he does not believe that he could have been wrong when he killed Cole. 

Once Mensah’s testimony concluded, Milwaukee police detective Lori Rom was called to the stand. Rom was one of the MAIT investigators initially assigned to interview officers involved in Cole’s death. Rom said that her department typically does not record officer interviews after shootings, and that had Mensah told them things like calling out that he saw the gun, or if he saw a muzzle flash, that it would have been documented as important information. Attorney Joseph Wirth, representing Mensah, noted that MAIT statements are not court statements made under oath. 

Tracy Cole, Alvin’s mother, was expected to testify, but this was not allowed after a chamber conversation between the judge and attorneys. Mensah’s defense attorneys called Sarah Hopkins, a civilian witness to the shooting to the stand next. Hopkins said she was outside the Cheesecake Factory when she saw the chase and shooting. Hopkins said she never saw Cole surrender or throw his hands up, but instead that he stopped running and turned towards officers in a shooter’s stance she recognized from taking concealed carry classes — something none of the other witnesses,  including Mensah,  said had happened. She’d initially claimed to be about 40 feet from the shooting, but later questioning determined that it had to have been at least 200 feet. Cole family attorney Cade highlighted that “we’re now in day three of trial” without anyone else having claimed to have seen what Hopkins said she saw. 

A mall security guard was also called to the stand, who helped chase after Cole and his friends. The guard said he heard a shot, saw a flash of light, and dropped to the ground. Like other witnesses, the guard said that Cole was on his hands and knees at one point, but that when he heard the first shot he got down to the ground for safety. The guard said he never saw Cole point a gun at anyone. Defense attorneys called former Green Bay police officer and Waukesha Area Technical College instructor Mike Knetzger, a certified instructor in defense and arrest tactics. Defense attorneys questioned Knetzger about use of force, noting that officers don’t need to go through each level of force before deadly force, especially if a situation happens quickly. Knetzger said that “special circumstances” such as the suspect’s behavior, could escalate the use of force. He later acknowledged, however, that shooting someone facing away from an officer without a gun pointed in their direction may not be an appropriate use of force. Knetzger said that use of force has to be considered from the perspective of a hypothetical “reasonable officer” and not specifically from the perspective of Mensah, who was the only officer on scene to fire his weapon at Cole. 

Closing arguments are expected on  Thursday, after which the jury will begin deliberations.

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The federal courthouse in Milwaukee.

The second day of the  civil trial in the fatal police shooting of Alvin Cole began Tuesday morning with testimony from Evan Olson, one of the officers  on the scene when Cole was shot  on the night of  Feb 2,  2020. Olson was one of three Wauwatosa officers whose contradictory statements about the shooting formed the basis for the civil suit . Attorneys on both sides grilled witnesses for hours.

Olson, like other current Wauwatosa officers called to the stand, arrived at Milwaukee’s federal courthouse in full uniform. For part of the morning Wauwatosa Chief James MacGillis sat in the gallery. 

Olson said he was friends with officer Joseph Mensah, who has been accused by the Cole family of using excessive force when he shot Alvin Cole. 

On Feb 2, 2020, Olson was one of several officers who responded to Mayfair Mall after reports went out about a disturbance involving a group of boys, one of whom had a gun. When Olson arrived on the scene, Cole and his friends were  leaving the mall and  running from police. Olson approached the mall from the west, cutting off the fleeing teens. After pulling up and getting out of his squad car, Olson approached two boys and told them to “get the [expletive] on the ground”, drew his service weapon and used a flashlight to illuminate the area. 

From his position, Olson could see Cole being pursued in the distance. Unlike other witness officers, Olson claimed that he didn’t see Cole fall to his hands and knees. Instead, Olson said Cole was in a “low, ready” position, which he compared to a sprinter’s stance, or a lineman’s stance in football. Attorney Nate Cade, one of the lawyers representing the Cole family, pressed Olson on what he saw, noting that his testimony was inconsistent with that of other officers. Squad car video of the shooting was played repeatedly in the courtroom on both the first and second day of the trial. Judge Lynn Adelman said that re-watching the video “is quite oppressive, actually,” and asked attorneys to limit how often they played it. 

Olson said Cole, in his “low, ready” position, also had his arm “tucked” similar to a “hug yourself gesture.” He also testified that while Cole was on the ground, he extended a black handgun in Olson’s direction. When Mensah fired five shots at Cole, the teen went flat and prone on the ground, Olson said. 

The officer said he never saw Cole crawling, a detail mentioned by Joseph Wirth, one of the attorneys representing Mensah, during Monday’s opening statements. Olson’s statement to Milwaukee police investigators in 2020 that Cole pointed a gun at him contradicts former Wauwatosa officer David Shamsi, who now works for the FBI. In depositions and on the stand, Shamsi said that he never saw Cole move once he fell to the ground. Shamsi was the closest officer to the teen with just a few feet between them. Mensah — who’s expected to testify on Wednesday — said that the gun was pointed only at him. Mensah was facing Cole from a different position than Olson, who also said the gun was pointed in his direction. 

Attorneys also noted that after the shooting, Olson and Mensah went off alone together for an undetermined amount of time. This interaction violated policies for investigating officer-involved shootings in the Milwaukee area, which state that involved officers should be separated from other witnesses in order to avoid contamination of statements. This line of questioning, however, stopped after a sidebar between attorneys and the judge. 

Video from inside one of the squad cars captured a voice (presumably Mensah’s) yelling after the shooting, “[expletive], I can’t believe I just shot somebody.” Olson, however, said he couldn’t understand what the voice was saying when the video was played back. 

Olson was interviewed once by police investigators after the shooting, and then again months later in the summer of 2020 by the district attorney about what happened, and never mentioned the twisting, tucking, or rolling maneuvers he mentioned on the stand. Under questioning he conceded it was a significant detail to omit. 

After the shooting, Olson said he saw Mensah was distraught, and appeared to get emotional himself as he recalled it. He also testified that Cole didn’t appear to be surrendering, and that once the teen was shot he walked up and kicked the handgun out of Cole’s hand, then handcuffed him as he struggled to breath before he began life saving measures. 

During his time at Wauwatosa PD, Olson attracted controversy to the department after punching a teenager in the face at Mayfair Mall several times. Fox6 News found that prior to the incident, Olson had been suspended for violating department policies such as by speeding, after which former Chief Barry Weber advised Olson that he was on his “very last warning.” In 2021, both Olson and officer Dexter Schleis — who testified in court on Monday —- were also involved in a non-fatal shooting of a teenager who ran from officers with a firearm.

After Olson, the court heard testimony from Sean Kaefer, a filmmaker and director of UW-Milwaukee’s documentary film program. Kaefer testified about squad car video he helped edit and enhance, which was to be shown later that day in the trial. Kaefer said he attempted to lighten the dark video, boost colors, zoom in, remove background noise, and add circles and arrows to point out things in the video such as Cole on the ground and Mensah firing and walking away. “What I do is very little,” said Kaefer. However, he said the video from Wauwatosa’s squad cars was poor quality, and the department didn’t have body cameras prior to the Cole shooting.

Shenora Jordan, principal at Messmer High School in Milwaukee witnessed the foot pursuit and shooting of Cole from her car. Jordan said she heard a shot, saw a boy fall to the ground, and then heard multiple shots which would’ve come from Mensah. Jordan said she saw Cole laying flat on ground after he shot, with his legs in the air kicking as if he was still running, before they slowly lowered.

“I was in disbelief, still in disbelief,” said Jordan, who said Cole never pointed a gun, and that she never saw him with anything in his hands. Later, Jordan said she made a social media post about what she saw, and was contacted by community organizers who advised her to contact the district attorney’s office. Jordan said she spoke with now-District Attorney Kent Lovern, and later was invited to meet Greenfield police investigators at a library in their jurisdiction. Although she told them what happened, and the conversation was recorded, Jordan said she felt the investigators didn’t really care about what she had to say.

Jordan said that neither her husband nor her children, who were in the car with her during the shooting, were ever interviewed by investigators. During her meeting with officers, Jordan drew a map to show  what she saw. When attorney Wirth for Mensah’s defense questioned Jordan, he suggested that she was never in a position to witness the shooting. Wirth played video from two squad cars, which only shows a vehicle matching Jordan’s passing by with others moments after the shooting was over. Jordan took issue with Wirth’s framing. “This is very serious,” she said. “I don’t want to be confused, and I don’t want you to twist my words,” she said.

Dr. Wieslaw Tlomak, chief medical examiner for Milwaukee County, gave lengthy testimony on  Cole’s autopsy, placing stickers on a mannequin to show where Cole was shot. Cole also had blunt force injuries and abrasions to his head. 

Later in the day, Chief James MacGillis returned to watch from the gallery alongside Wauwatosa PD Capt. Luke Vetter. The two sat across the courtroom from Cole’s mother, brother, and sister, Taleavia, whom Vetter has said police monitored for her protest activities after her brother was killed.

By the end of the day, once the jury was dismissed for the day, attorney Wirth attempted to call for a mistrial. Wirth pointed to Jordan’s testimony, accusing her of misrepresenting what she saw and asked the judge either for a mistrial, or to strike her testimony. Attorney Cade countered that Olson directly contradicted testimony from other officers including Shamsi and Johnson while on the stand, arguing that if anyone was manipulating their testimony, it was Olson. Judge Adelman denied the defense’s requests, saying that the jury will get to decide who they believe. “It’s really their call, not mine,” Adelman said. 

This article has been edited to correct the name Shenora Jordan, who was called Shenora Jones in an earlier version. We regret the error. 

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Tracy Cole, the mother of Alvin Cole, surrounded by her family. (Photo by Isiah Holmes)

A federal civil trial into the killing of 17-year-old Alvin Cole by then-Wauwatosa officer Joseph Mensah five years ago began on Monday, bringing Cole’s family, Mensah, a cast of current and former Wauwatosa officers, and other witnesses into the U.S. district court building in Milwaukee. The lawsuit accuses Mensah of using excessive force when he fired five shots at Cole in 2020, killing him after a foot chase in a darkened mall parking lot. 

During opening statements, attorney Kimberly Motley said police officers receive  extensive training in use of force under Wisconsin’s  Defense and Arrest Tactics (DAAT) standards. Motley said that when officers fire their weapons they must “articulate each shot” and that Mensah “did not exercise restraint” when he shot Cole. Cole’s case  was  Mensah’s third shooting over a five year period, although attorneys agreed to not bring up that fact during the trial. “We believe that Joseph Mensah did not have the right to shoot and kill Alvin Cole,” said Motley. 

The mostly white jury of seven women and one man listened intently to statements from both Motley and attorney Joseph Wirth who represents Mensah. They recounted the events of  Feb. 2 2020, a Super Bowl Sunday, when  Cole and a group of his friends  got into a verbal altercation with another group of boys at the Mayfair mall. Police were called and the boys fled. Officers later testified that a  single gun shot was heard as the police were  chasing Cole, though they did not see who fired the gun. While Cole was on his hands and knees, surrounded by officers, Mensah fired five shots, later claiming that Cole pointed a gun at him. Wirth said footchases are dangerous and unpredictable and  stressed that the events leading up to the shooting took place over less time than it took the attorney to introduce himself to the jury. He appealed to the jurors saying  they could be sympathetic to the Cole family, while also ruling that Mensah’s use of force was reasonable. “Put yourself in the officer’s shoes,” Wirth told the jury. 

Motley said that Cole accidentally shot himself in the forearm before he fell, breaking his arm in the process. The broken arm would have made it hard for him to aim his gun at Mensah, as Mensah claimed, Motley said.  Also, an officer who was closer to Cole than Mensah said that Cole hadn’t moved at all before Mensah fired. 

That officer, David Shamsi, who’s now an FBI agent, was called as a witness on Monday. Another officer, Evan Olson, who said the gun was pointed in a completely different direction than Mensah claims, is also expected to testify later in the week. The  contradictory statements from officers Mensah, Olson, and Shamsi persuaded U.S. District Judge Lynn Adelman that the lawsuit should go to trial. 

On Monday, Alvin’s father, Albert Cole,  recalled dropping his son off with his friends the last  time he would see him.  After Alvin died, Albert became “anti-social,” he testified, Crying on the witness stand, he said  Alvin’s death left a hole in his life and that of Tracy Cole,  his wife of over 30 years. “That hurt was inside me,” he said.

Shamsi testified that he was “tunnel visioned” on Cole’s gun, which he said remained on the ground and didn’t move after Cole fell to his hands and knees in the dark parking lot. Shamsi hadn’t considered whether Cole was wounded and, in fact, was prepared to fire his own weapon if the boy moved again. “I did not see him point a gun at me,” said Shamsi.

During questioning, attorneys noted that Shamsi changed his story when he was re-interviewed about the shooting months after it occurred. It was during that interview that Shamsi said that he saw Cole’s arm extended towards officers. When he was deposed for the civil lawsuit and then on the stand Monday, Shamsi reverted to his original statements that he did not see Cole move after he was on the ground. 

Cole family attorney Nate Cade told Wisconsin Examiner that he suspects Shamsi changed his story after meeting  with Mensah’s attorneys, because  “no one wants to turn around and say that a fellow officer did something wrong.” He said  Shamsi’s testimony that the gun never moved “is the most damning thing.” Cole’s shooting was initially investigated by the Milwaukee Area Investigative Team (MAIT), before the Milwaukee County district attorney decided Mensah wouldn’t be charged for killing Cole in 2020. A recent investigation by Wisconsin Examiner in partnership with Type Investigations found a pattern of MAIT policies protecting officers and contradictory statements left unchallenged. 

Cade said  “the district attorney looked the other way” and that there were things that investigators “should have done” but neglected,  such as measuring the distance between Cole’s body and bullet casings. “There are no measurements,” said Cade. “None of the officers identified exactly where they were standing.” 

Attorneys also called a civilian witness who’d seen Cole’s group running from police and witnessed the shooting. The witness said that he did not see Cole running with anything in his hands, suggesting that he had not turned his body to point a gun at officers as he ran. Wauwatosa officer Dexter Schleis agreed with Cade that deadly force is allowed if an armed person turns towards an officer, he would not answer directly when asked if deadly force is appropriate when an armed person has their back to an officer, is on the ground and isn’t moving. Schleis repeatedly asked for the question to be repeated, that he didn’t understand, or couldn’t say whether the shooting complied with police protocol.

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A fatal police shooting of an unnamed person in Fond du Lac is under investigation. | Getty Images

During a stop by law enforcement officers Monday night, Feb. 24, in the Town of Fond du Lac, a Fond du Lac County Sheriff deputy shot and killed a person the deputy believed was producing a firearm.

The person’s name has not been released, nor the name of the deputies involved with the stop.

According to a press release by the Wisconsin Department of Justice (DOJ), on Monday evening, Fond du Lac County Sheriff’s deputies contacted someone via phone who was known to have a felony warrant. 

Law enforcement also received information from a civilian that this same person appeared to have a handgun.

A short while later, deputies located the person in the 6300 block of Cherrywood Drive, near a trailer park.  

The person refused to follow repeated commands, and one of the deputies discharged a non-lethal weapon. (The non-lethal weapon was not named in an official statement on the incident.)

The person then produced what deputies believed to be a firearm, and in response, a second deputy discharged a firearm at 6:22 p.m., striking the person.

Emergency medical specialists (EMS) were contacted, and law enforcement and EMS attempted life-saving measures.

The person was transported to a nearby hospital before being pronounced dead.

No members of law enforcement or other members of the public were injured during the incident.

The deputy involved in the shooting is on administrative assignment, per agency policy.

Law enforcement officers involved with the stop were wearing body cameras during the incident.

Additional details are being withheld during  the investigation and will be released to the public later.

The Wisconsin Department of Justice (DOJ) Division of Criminal Investigation (DCI) is investigating the officer-involved shooting, assisted by Wisconsin State Patrol, the Fond du Lac Police Department, and the Village of North Fond du Lac Police Department.

When the DCI investigation concludes, it will turn over the investigative reports to the Fond du Lac County District Attorney’s office.

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The Dover Police Department is investigating a shooting involving a teen after he was dropped off by his school bus, reported Coast News.

According to the news report, police responded to reports of gunfire on Wednesday afternoon at approximately 2:35 p.m. Investigators determined that a Capital School District bus had just dropped off a group of students from Dover High School, when the accused shooter began chasing a 16-year-old boy before opening fire.

Both individuals, who were not identified at this writing, were reportedly running as shots were fired, but no one was hurt.

The article states that the school bus driver followed safety protocols and quickly left the area to protect the remaining students on board. Police later confirmed that the school bus was not struck. However, there were active threats to the school.

It was unclear why the teen was targeted. Police stated that the victim was not cooperating with detectives and had not even provided a description of the shooter.

Dover police reportedly increased its presence at Dover High School for the remainder of the week.

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Related: Teen Charged in Pennsylvania School Bus Shooting, 3 Others Wanted
Related: Indiana Student Detained After Bringing Gun on School Bus
Related: Pennsylvania School Bus Shooter Apprehended
Related: Texas Student Fires Gun on School Bus

The post Shooter Fires at Teen in Delaware After School Bus Drop Off appeared first on School Transportation News.

Law enforcement and security expert Bret E. Brooks will address two facets of the safety and security discussion for student transportation at STN EXPO East.

Brooks has spoken on emergency management, threat detection and violence preparedness at various STN conferences. He will present two sessions in Concord, North Carolina this March. The first session Friday, March 21, “Understanding Violence in Modern Society and the Impact on School Transportation,” will give attendees an in-depth exploration into the complexities of violence in today’s society, including the impact of technology and media. Using real-world examples, data and expert perspectives, Brooks will explain how attendees can equip themselves with strategies to not only address violence in their communities but prevent it and collaborate to build a safer society that translates to safer routes to and from school.

The second general session, “Creating a Bus Captain Program for School Buses,” will be held on Saturday, March 22. This interactive session looks at how to create a successful school bus advocacy program that can not only aid safety efforts but provide a leadership role for students and encourage positive, respectful behavior of their peers and student transportation staff.

Attendees will receive a breakdown of designing and implementing a bus captain program, including details such as program development, age- appropriate responsibilities, communication and evaluation strategies. Brooks will explain how to reach the program goal of equipping students to be role-models, assist drivers and contribute to a safe bus environment.

Brooks is the senior consultant with Gray Ram Tactical and the training coordinator and policy advisor for the Missouri State Highway Patrol.

Register by Feb. 14 to save $100 on main conference registration with Early Bird Savings. Browse conference agenda, explore unique experiences and register at stnexpo.com/east.

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Related: STN EXPO East Keynote Speaker Brings Dynamic Performance Strategies to North Carolina
Related: Innovative, Bus Technology Meet for Immersive Experience at STN EXPO East
Related: Transportation Director Summit to Provide Empowerment, Networking

The post Security Sessions at STN EXPO East Address Violence, Safety Programs appeared first on School Transportation News.

A Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools bus was hit with gunfire, reported WCNC Charlotte.

The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department released a statement saying that the gunfire came from a drug-related dispute that occurred outside the school bus on Monday. The bus was not the intended target, police added. Two students from Albemarle Middle School were injured from glass broken by the gunfire, according to the police statement.

Police arrested 21-year-old Lamarius Ramel Anthony, who is charged with carrying a concealed weapon and felony possession of cocaine.

Local security guard Eyersol Belbuel was reportedly nearby when the shooting occurred and assisted the school bus driver in safely evacuating all the students.

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Related: Teen Charged in Pennsylvania School Bus Shooting, 3 Others Wanted
Related: Texas Student Fires Gun on School Bus
Related: Arizona Student Found with Gun on School Bus

The post North Carolina Students Injured After Gunshots Fired Outside School Bus appeared first on School Transportation News.