Families of men killed at El Rey shooting left with pain, unanswered questions

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MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- Two families are mourning and a south side community left in shock after a shooting at El Rey supermarket left two men dead and a third bystander injured.

Milwaukee police said the shooting happened Saturday, July 9 at the El Rey supermarket on South Cesar Chavez Drive in the morning.

Police said an altercation led to a shooting between security and another man who entered the store earlier.

The security guard was identified at 59-year-old Anthony 'Tony' Nolden.

A vigil was held to honor Nolden on Sunday night with family and community leaders in attendance.

"My uncle was a superhero," Nolden's nephew Emmanuel said during the event. "He was a superhero when we were kids, and now we're grown adults and he's still a superhero to us."

Nolden leaves behind two children, including a 10-year-old son and a 19-year-old daughter whose wedding he attended the day before the shooting.

"This is a heartbreak for our family, that man had two kids," Nolden's niece Nateisha said. "A son sitting at home waiting on him and he ain't ever coming back."

In another part of the parking lot of El Rey, a memorial for the other man who died sits with candles and signs.

The family of 36-year-old Luis Lorenzo set up the memorial and spoke with reporters on Monday afternoon. They believe Lorenzo was wrongfully killed and he should still be alive.


"I feel like he should've never been pursued past that door entrance," Wanda Rodriguez, Lorenzo's sister, told reporters. "Their job was to observe and report. They didn't do that, they chased him down and attacked him."

The family of Lorenzo said he suffered from mental health issues, including paranoia. They said he was profiled for having a ski mask and a backpack he refused to leave with the store's staff because he had personal items in it. The family added Lorenzo was followed in the store, did not steal anything and the incident happened outside the store.

Lorenzo's family said the security company, Marshal Public Safety, was aggressive in its treatment of Lorenzo, something exemplified in another incident later in the weekend where family members tried to set up a memorial outside El Rey but were told they were trespassing, leading to one of the family members being tackled by security and handcuffed. The incident was recorded on video by another family member.

"They use the same heavy-handed tactics with me that they did with my cousin, they use excessive force," said Ivory Suttle, Lorenzo's cousin and the family member who was tackled and handcuffed by security. Suttle said he was released and Milwaukee police did not issue him a citation.

Marshal Public Safety did not return request for comment.

The Milwaukee County District Attorney's Office is now reviewing Saturday's shooting.

Lorenzo's family is considering pursuing a civil lawsuit in this incident.

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