Suspect at large after Kenosha police officer shot; GOP senator blames 'anti-law enforcement rhetoric'
KENOSHA, Wis. (CBS 58) -- Kenosha police confirmed a police officer was shot following an incident early in the morning on Saturday, Aug. 8. Officers said the suspect is still at large.
Police responded to the area near 46th and Sheridan to investigate a complaint of someone trying to gain entry to a vehicle, according to a news release from the Kenosha Police Department.
CBS 58 spoke with a man who did not wish to be identified who said he called 911 around 4:40 a.m. after he saw two men in hoodies trying to break in to cars on Sheridan Road.
"I chased them all around the block and then they came back," the man said. "I called the police. As I was chasing them, I was talking to the police, and then the police came a little while later."
When an officer arrived on scene, he saw a subject matching the 911 caller's description. Police said when the officer tried to investigate, the suspect brought out a firearm and shot the officer. The officer returned fire, according to the news release.
Kenosha police would not tell CBS 58 where the shots were fired, but officers blocked off the area near 50th Street and 14th Avenue on Saturday morning. People who live near that intersection told CBS 58 they heard shots nearby around 5 a.m.
"This is very shocking," said neighbor Barb Manhart. "I didn't hear nothing this morning, but yet here I find out that this time it was a loud noise and it turned out to be an officer being shot."
The officer, a 30-year-old man with two years of service with the department, was taken to a hospital with a gunshot wound. The injury is not believed to be life threatening.
State Sen. Van Wanggaard, a Republican from Racine, released a statement Saturday afternoon in response to the incident.
"I stand with all law enforcement in praying that the officer shot this morning in Kenosha fully recovers. Unfortunately, the anti-law enforcement rhetoric of the last two-plus months made this morning's events all too predictable," Wanggaard said in the statement.
Wangaard, a former police officer, called on the community to rally around the department and the officer who was shot in hopes of identifying the suspect.
Officials said they don't know if the suspect was injured.
The case was turned over to the Wisconsin Department of Justice's Division of Criminal Investigation after the department requested their assistance. The Wisconsin State Patrol is also helping the state with the case.