Downtown Shooting Arrest Made

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May 13, 2008 --- 2:45 PM

The Madison Police Department arrested a minor in connection with an April 30 shooting in the 600 block of West Washington.

Seventeen-year-old Michael "Mikey" T. Thomas has been tentatively charged with Attempted First Degree Intentional Homicide for wounding a 19-year-old man.

The 19-year-old man sustained non life-threatening injuries.

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UPDATE: April 30, 2008 10:40pm

Madison police are investigating a shooting. Police say a 19 year old Madison man was shot in the 600 block of West Washington Avenue just before 6 p.m. Wednesday. Police say he was taken to a local hospital with non-life threatening injuries. Police also say the victim knew his shooters, so this was not a random act. However, police are not sure of the relationship between the individuals or the motive for this shooting.

Officers and investigators blocked off and combed the parking lot and street area near the Dane County Mental Health Facility. Police say the crime occurred outside the building and the facility had nothing to do with the shooting. Police were able to gather evidence at the scene and they did recover the suspects vehicle on the south side of Madison shortly after the crime. However, police are still looking for the three to five men believed to be in the car at the time of the crime. Investigators are working to learn the identity of the men.

The downtown area has been on edge lately because of violence and crimes. Alderman, Mike Verveer, was at the shooting scene Wednesday. He says his "heart sank" when he heard of the shooting. However, once he started to learn the details of the case he realized while it was unfortunate, it was not a crime directed at the downtown area. "I think it is critical to stress, particularly with what this neighborhood has gone through in the last month in terms of crime, this was absolutely not a random act of violence. This could have happened anywhere in the community based on information I have from cops," said Verveer.

Police say this was an isolated crime and the community should not be alarmed.

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UPDATE: April 30, 2008 10:18pm

Madison Police News Release:

On 4/30/08 at approximately 5:54 p.m. Madison Police responded to a report of a shooting in the 600 block of W. Washington Avenue. Officers learned a 19 year-old Madison man was wounded with non-life threatening injuries. This does not appear to be a random act. The suspect vehicle was recovered in the South side of Madison and is being processed for evidence. No arrests have been made. The shooting occurred outside and evidence is being collected by detectives and investigators.

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Police say a man has been shot near the Mental Health Center of Dane County.

It happened on the 600 block of West Washington Avenue in Madison just before 6 pm Wednesday evening.

Police say they are searching for three to five men, but this does not appear to be a random act.

They do believe they have recovered the suspect's vehicle on Madison's South Side, but they are still searching for the shooter.

Police tell NBC15 the 19-year old victim was taken to an area hospital with non life-threatening injuries.

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Posted by: d Location: madison on May 14, 2008 at 07:25 AM
good. now this kid can rot in jail for a long long time.

Posted by: Wow on May 13, 2008 at 04:10 PM
Jon, I know what you are saying and you are correct. To all of you blaming the parents, think about one thing here. Not every child is home schooled and with a parent home 24/7. There are A LOT of single parents out there doing the best they can. Do you realize how much these kids learn in schools about gangs, drugs, gun, etc.? The parents are not at complete fault here. Besides, it is not like the old days when I grew up & your parents took a belt to you if you misbehaved. Now you can't even touch your kids or you are in jail. The Police are not to blame here either, it is a combination of things in our society. Deeno you are correct about mentoring & be there for these kids. BUT, becareful because if you do try and help & something goes wrong you are going to be looked at as the bad guy too. I have been there & excused of things I was floored about by the Madison PD. Wanting to know why I would have a child like the ones I tried to help in my home. Let me think, to try & help. Nice!

Posted by: amazed Location: dane county on May 2, 2008 at 01:34 PM
Jon, WELL PUT!! And I for one salute you for the difficult job you do. Paul, brilliant information!! To all the people who blame the police for not protecting their every move, quit being sheep. Learn to take care of yourselves, refuse to be a victim, and the criminal problems will start to go away. But if you absolutely have to have someone protect your every move, hire a body guard and let us have our freedom!!!

Posted by: Paul Location: Madison on May 1, 2008 at 07:08 PM
Think about it people. Madison has approximately 220,000 residents, and 400 sworn officers, from the Chief all the way down. Milwaukee has 590,000 inhabitants, and has 2,000 cops. Granted, apart from being 2.7 times the size of Madison, it has a larger metro area, as well as other issues to deal with. However, they have a cop for every 295 residents, or 3.38 for every 1,000 resident. Madison has one cop per 562 residents, or approximately 1.7 cops per 1,000 residents. If we applied the same ratio, Madison would need 760 cops to meet match Milwaukee's numbers and provide the proactive police work you claim you want (except when the cops are "picking" on you, of course, then they're fascists and you complain about a Police State. Not to mention taking care of all the quality of life problems you constantly whine about. You want more police presence, all the time, for everything under the sun? Wake up and realize you're not in Kansas anymore and start putting you money where your mouth is.

Posted by: Paul Location: Madison on May 1, 2008 at 06:56 PM
For all you people blaming the Police: guess how many cops are on duty on a regular night in the entire city of Madison? Any takers? About 30 total, give or take one or two. On the afternoon shift, the numbers are a litle bit better. Maybe if MPD didn't have to respond to all of your stupid fender-benders on the beltline, they would have more time to be proactive. But no, they have to respond to everything and everyone because nobody knows how to resolve anything for themelves. Retail thefts, domestics, batteries, school fights, suicidal people (extremely frequent in Madison), drunk drivers, noise disturbances, suspicious people/cars, death investigations, multiple 911 disconnects, successful suicides, emergency detentions (a trip to Mendota Mental Health), plus all the ridiculous overkill in paperwork required by most of the unsupportive posters here when they get arrested or have police contact themselves. The 30 extra cops amount to 2 or 3 per shift when you account for staffing.

Posted by: Ralph on May 1, 2008 at 04:31 PM
To Anonymous at 2:05... Do you think the parents of Ms. Zimmermann think the police are doing the best they can now that they know the 911 call was blown? "Doing the best they can." Nothing but an excuse when there is a failure.

Posted by: Helen Location: Madison on May 1, 2008 at 04:26 PM
I have been very critical of the MPD and Mayor Dave, however, this event was not random. There is little to no way to prevent this from happening. However, I remain critical of the MPD and its inability to solve crime. I don't know if there are not enough detectives or the detectives we have need additional training. I would expect Mayor Dave to step up on this one, but he can't be reached. He is currently visiting the dream world he created when he gave the "State of the City" talk.

Posted by: me Location: madison on May 1, 2008 at 04:07 PM
Hey 8:02am, what are YOU going to do to improve the city. Funny how you can call people names and point fingers, but you fail to even post your first name! Talk about cowards! Leave it up to the Sheriff or state patrol? So how long do you think it will take them to respond to a call? Either do something to help or blow it out your rear end!!!!

Posted by: Anonymous on May 1, 2008 at 03:00 PM
If there are no penalties for parents who don't do their job, then telling them they should take care of their kids is allot of hot air!

Posted by: 8:02am on May 1, 2008 at 02:43 PM
You all are missing the point. When the police say it is an isolated incident, they are patronizing us and trying to downplay the severity of the situation. The MPD keeps acting like all of this crime is no big deal. I think that we should disband the MPD and have the Dane County Sheriff Dept. and the State Patrol take over. Then laws would be enforced! Every scum bag in town knows that the MPD blames everybody else (like the parents) when somebody (like the parents) need help. Hind sight is 20/20. What is the MPD going to do about the crime in the city? It is clear that they are out matched.

Posted by: Anonymous on May 1, 2008 at 02:05 PM
AMEN,to Officer Jon....Too many people try to blame everyone else!! Police do the best they can.

Posted by: JH Location: Madison on May 1, 2008 at 01:28 PM
Amen, Officer Jon! You hit the nail on the head! Parents, do your children (and our city) a favor and spend some time with your children - better yet, actually sit down and have a conversation with them (what a concept!)! You might be surprised at some of the things you can learn about/from them! Thank you to Officer Jon and the rest of the police department who do all they can to serve and protect this fine city! My son is actually joining the police academy in the fall and I can't be more proud of his career choice!

Posted by: Tim Location: cheese on May 1, 2008 at 01:23 PM
Anon 8:02a.m., Clearly you are frustrated, I cannot agree more with Jon 9:19a.m. Everything DOES start at home.

Posted by: Person with a brain on May 1, 2008 at 01:09 PM
What does Chicago have to do with any of this. I know plenty of bad people that were born right here in Madison or better yet, the suburbs where the people think that they are better than everyone else even though their children are the ones trying to act like they are from Chicago and trying to be "gangsta" and act like complete idiots! Most of the 2nd or 3rd generation Chicagoans that live here wouldn't know a ghetto if it was dropped on their head or what a real gang member is supposed to act like. Most of the idiots that I know of were born in Madison. Hmmm, I don't recall Madison being a part of Chicago. Like the police officer said pay attention to your own kids instead of turning your noses up at everyone else's. Your kids could be the one committing the crime while you are paying so much attention to the "person from Chicago" who is minding their own business!

Posted by: anonymous Location: Sun Prairie on May 1, 2008 at 12:50 PM
There is no need of blaming Police for the shooting that someone did on W. Washington. Did the police give the men a gun, did the police raise this guys? NO, they did not. What aboout focusing on the parents who raised these guys. Maybe if they would of raised them right, they would not be carrying guns around trying to shoot people! Maybe they would be working real job and not out there selling drugs or being in gangs to make a living. Why does everyone blame the police and not the parents or the actual people instead? Come on face reality! This would not all be going on if the parents brought up the children in the world the right way. Gain control or blame yourself, and stop puttin it on someone else, because the parents failed to raise their children the right way.

Posted by: Terri Location: Madison on May 1, 2008 at 12:26 PM
I agree with Walter. Madison would be safer if we got rid of the many undesireables.

Posted by: deeno Location: monroe on May 1, 2008 at 12:24 PM
I agree with Police Officer Jon. If you don't like what is happening in your city - do something about it (don't just provide lip service). Become a Big Brother or Sister in Dane Co, become a mentor to someone, volunteer at the library, do whatever it takes to reach out to the kids whose parents are not being responsible for their kids. I can guarantee you crime will keep happening regardless of how many police officers are on the force.

Posted by: Jennifer Location: Middleton on May 1, 2008 at 09:21 AM
I take offense to the comment of "send these Chicago people back". That is an inappropriate comment! You don't know where these individuals are from so how are you just going to ASSUME that they are from Chicago.

Posted by: Jon Location: Madison on May 1, 2008 at 09:19 AM
Anonymous, I am a Madison Police Officer. Just how do you think we, the police, can look at an individual walking down the street and know they have a conceled weapon and are about to committ a crime? 99.9% of crimes are committed BEFORE the police are notified. Rather than people blaming the police, how about you parents spending quality time with your children? Teaching them right from wrong, giving them positive direction in life, actually PAYING ATTENTION to their individual needs? Tired of all you "better than thou" people who think you know everything, blaming the police for every crime that is committed in this city. It all starts with the person looking back at you in the mirror. If any of you feel you can make a difference, then become more active in your community or better yet, join the police academy and join the force. If you are not willing to help, then keep your comments to yourselves. ACTIONS speak louder than words anyways!

Posted by: Anonymous on May 1, 2008 at 08:02 AM
I like the comment that the police said, "Police say this was an isolated crime and the community should not be alarmed." WHAT A JOKE!! Somebody is out there with a gun, on West Washington Ave. and we should not be alarmed. What about that little girl in Milwaukee who was shot by a stray bullet? Are we supposed to say that her parents should not be alarmed. HEY MADISON POLICE: KIDS ARE RUNNING AROUND THE CITY WITH GUNS AND SHOOTING AT EACH OTHER? I dare you to try to do anything about it YOU LOOSERS!!

Posted by: E Location: Madison on May 1, 2008 at 07:25 AM
Another crime committed by young people...where were their parents when they were being raised!

Posted by: Walter Location: Madison on Apr 30, 2008 at 09:44 PM
Seems like there has been a shooting everyday this week. Yesterday it was a woman in Fitchburg and now Madison, where will it be tomorrow. We need to send these Chicago people back, no more welfare!

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