An off-duty officer is recovering after he was shot in the stomach in Milwaukee’s Third Ward.It happened Thursday afternoon in the Shake Shack on Buffalo and Water streets.A door-dash delivery driver was picking up an order at Shake Shack. She wants to remain anonymous as police still search for more suspects; but she sat down with 12 News to share her story.The woman lost her job during the pandemic, and worked as a food delivery driver to make ends meet. She has three young girls, ages 1, 5 and 9. She told 12 News she makes too much money as a delivery driver to qualify for child support, but cannot afford child care, so her kids go along for the drives.”I had to have my kids with me, I had to do what I have to do to pay my bills. I was already struggling,” she said. Thursday afternoon she went to pick up an order at Shake Shack. One of her girls needed to use the restroom, so she quickly parked and planned to run inside to ask if she could go to the bathroom while she picked up her order.She made sure to take her car keys with her.”When I opened the door they said, ‘Somebody’s stealing your car,'” she said.She turned around and saw a man running away from her car. She said panic set in.The man, who police said was attempting to steal her car, dropped his phone while he ran.”I took the phone with me, we were calling the cops to let them know that my car was just attempted to be stolen, and that I had his phone with me, we thought maybe they could track him down with his phone,” she said.But it’s what happened next that haunts her.”He was in there listening,” she said. “He realized that I had his phone, and he lifted up his shirt a little bit and started charging at me, you could see that he had a gun and he was charging at me, and he like wrapped his arms around me … and started to tackle me to the ground.”An off-duty Milwaukee police officer inside of the restaurant jumped into action.She said the officer pulled the man off of her, but the man then shot the officer in the abdomen.He is recovering and expected to survive.”The most amazing thing is he’s on the ground bleeding and he still wasn’t worried about himself, he was repeating over and over ‘Idaho plates’ and the plate number,” the delivery driver told WISN 12 News.That information helped police make two arrests in connection to the crimes.”I just feel like if he wasn’t there it could have been me that got shot, it could have been anybody in the restaurant that got shot, he truly saved all of our lives,” she said.WISN 12 News asked what she would tell the officer if she ever gets the chance to meet him.”I would tell him, thank you, and that he’s our hero, and I hope we do get a chance to meet him,” she said. “My kids have made cards for him, so we’re hoping that we can meet him.”She said the harrowing experience still sticks with her and her kids, who watched it all from the car.”It just has turned everything upside down for us,” she said.She said her kids get startled at every sudden noise, and the emotional toll hasn’t allowed her to go back to making deliveries. “They’re scared to come with, I’m scared to do it,” she said. “I don’t feel safe in Milwaukee.”She also explained how she loses sleep over the guilt she feels.”I feel like it’s my fault,” she said, holding back tears. “I told the officers maybe if I hadn’t picked up the phone, if I had just left it on the ground, maybe he would have come back, grabbed the phone and left, and none of it would have happened.”A GoFundMe account is set up for donations to help her and her three girls with costs while she’s out of work. “I just am trying to get through the next couple of weeks while I’m looking for a new job, looking for child care,” she said. Aside from day-to-day costs, she is also concerned that she will potentially need money for a surgery related to intracranial pressure, something she discovered just days before the incident.To donate to the GoFundMe click here.
An off-duty officer is recovering after he was shot in the stomach in Milwaukee’s Third Ward.
It happened Thursday afternoon in the Shake Shack on Buffalo and Water streets.
A door-dash delivery driver was picking up an order at Shake Shack. She wants to remain anonymous as police still search for more suspects; but she sat down with 12 News to share her story.
The woman lost her job during the pandemic, and worked as a food delivery driver to make ends meet.
She has three young girls, ages 1, 5 and 9. She told 12 News she makes too much money as a delivery driver to qualify for child support, but cannot afford child care, so her kids go along for the drives.
“I had to have my kids with me, I had to do what I have to do to pay my bills. I was already struggling,” she said.
Thursday afternoon she went to pick up an order at Shake Shack. One of her girls needed to use the restroom, so she quickly parked and planned to run inside to ask if she could go to the bathroom while she picked up her order.
She made sure to take her car keys with her.
“When I opened the door they said, ‘Somebody’s stealing your car,'” she said.
She turned around and saw a man running away from her car. She said panic set in.
The man, who police said was attempting to steal her car, dropped his phone while he ran.
“I took the phone with me, [into Shake Shack] we were calling the cops to let them know that my car was just attempted to be stolen, and that I had his phone with me, we thought maybe they could track him down with his phone,” she said.
But it’s what happened next that haunts her.
“He was in there listening,” she said. “He realized that I had his phone, and he lifted up his shirt a little bit and started charging at me, you could see that he had a gun and he was charging at me, and he like wrapped his arms around me … and started to tackle me to the ground.”
An off-duty Milwaukee police officer inside of the restaurant jumped into action.
She said the officer pulled the man off of her, but the man then shot the officer in the abdomen.
He is recovering and expected to survive.
“The most amazing thing is he’s on the ground bleeding and he still wasn’t worried about himself, he was repeating over and over ‘Idaho plates’ and the plate number,” the delivery driver told WISN 12 News.
That information helped police make two arrests in connection to the crimes.
“I just feel like if he wasn’t there it could have been me that got shot, it could have been anybody in the restaurant that got shot, he truly saved all of our lives,” she said.
WISN 12 News asked what she would tell the officer if she ever gets the chance to meet him.
“I would tell him, thank you, and that he’s our hero, and I hope we do get a chance to meet him,” she said. “My kids have made cards for him, so we’re hoping that we can meet him.”
She said the harrowing experience still sticks with her and her kids, who watched it all from the car.
“It just has turned everything upside down for us,” she said.
She said her kids get startled at every sudden noise, and the emotional toll hasn’t allowed her to go back to making deliveries.
“They’re scared to come with, I’m scared to do it,” she said. “I don’t feel safe in Milwaukee.”
She also explained how she loses sleep over the guilt she feels.
“I feel like it’s my fault,” she said, holding back tears. “I told the officers maybe if I hadn’t picked up the phone, if I had just left it on the ground, maybe he would have come back, grabbed the phone and left, and none of it would have happened.”
A GoFundMe account is set up for donations to help her and her three girls with costs while she’s out of work.
“I just am trying to get through the next couple of weeks while I’m looking for a new job, looking for child care,” she said.
Aside from day-to-day costs, she is also concerned that she will potentially need money for a surgery related to intracranial pressure, something she discovered just days before the incident.
