A 13-year-old and a 33-year-old were shot near North 42nd Street and West Lloyd Street in Milwaukee just before 7:30 p.m. Saturday, on the eastern edge of the Washington Park neighborhood. Both victims were taken to a hospital, and police say both are expected to survive. No arrests have been made as investigators try to determine what led up to the shooting.
According to WISN, the Milwaukee Police Department confirmed both victims were struck in the shooting and transported for treatment, with the 13-year-old expected to survive and the 33-year-old expected to recover. Police have not announced any arrests and say the investigation into the circumstances is ongoing. Anyone with information is asked to contact Milwaukee police at 414-935-7360, or to reach out anonymously through Crime Stoppers at 414-224-TIPS or the P3 Tips app.
A Corner With a Painful History
The intersection sits along the eastern border of Washington Park, a neighborhood patrolled by the Milwaukee Police Department's District 3, which operates out of 2333 N. 49th Street and has designated the area a priority zone for violent crime intervention, per the City of Milwaukee. It is not the first time gunfire has erupted at this exact corner. In June 2024, a 17-year-old was killed and a 15-year-old wounded near 42nd and Lloyd after a fight broke out following a Juneteenth event at Washington Park, according to WTMJ; the suspect in that earlier shooting was a 17-year-old found with a fully automatic converted firearm who was out on $750 cash bail at the time.
Local safety assessments have classified Washington Park as a high-risk hotspot, with overall crime rates calculated at 186% higher than the citywide average, per Guardian Protection. Community groups including the Urban Ecology Center work alongside police in the area to address underlying poverty and reduce neighborhood crime, the same assessment notes.
Extra Patrols Already Underway
The shooting happened during an active seasonal policing push. Milwaukee police launched Operation Summer Guardian 5.0 in May, deploying extra patrols Thursday through Sunday in high-frequency gunshot neighborhoods through late September. Previous iterations of the operation from 2022 through 2025 resulted in 143 arrests and the seizure of 78 illegal firearms.
The city's Department of Community Wellness and Safety also coordinates non-policing violence intervention efforts, including the 414 LIFE de-escalation team and Credible Messenger youth mentoring, according to Wisconsin Watch. Those programs work alongside hospital-based victim support services such as Project Ujima at Children's Wisconsin.
Part of a Wider, Complicated Trend
Citywide numbers tell a mixed story. Milwaukee saw an 8% drop in overall Part 1 violent crimes and a 27% decline in non-fatal shootings during the first quarter of 2026 compared to the same period in 2025, falling from 110 to 80 incidents, according to CBS 58. Mayor Cavalier Johnson and Police Chief Jeffrey Norman attributed the reduction to expanded community outreach and targeted law enforcement initiatives.
Yet youth involvement in gun violence, both as victims and as offenders, remains a persistent concern. Milwaukee Police Department year-end data for 2025 showed a 57% year-over-year surge in juvenile homicide suspects, with the youngest recorded suspect just 13 years old, even as homicides overall rose 8% to 142 total victims that year, per WTMJ. A May 2025 report by the Wisconsin Policy Forum found that youth aged 15 and 16 accounted for 61% of all juvenile justice referrals in Milwaukee County between 2018 and 2024, while felony weapons offense referrals among minors more than tripled over that span, according to the Wisconsin Justice Initiative. Milwaukee County is building a new 32-bed youth facility, scheduled to open by late 2026, to address juvenile justice needs.
What Happens Next
Under Wisconsin Statute § 948.60(2)(a), a minor caught possessing or going armed with a dangerous weapon faces a Class A misdemeanor, punishable by up to nine months in jail and a $10,000 fine, with exceptions limited to adult-supervised target practice or hunting instruction. If an adult with a prior felony is found to have possessed a firearm, Wisconsin Statute § 941.29 classifies that as a Class G felony, carrying up to 10 years in prison and fines as high as $25,000, per the Gerard Law Firm. No charges have been announced in this case, and it remains unclear whether either victim was targeted or caught in crossfire.
This is the fourth shooting involving a teenage victim that Hoodline has covered on Milwaukee's North and West Sides in less than two weeks, following a fatal drive-by on West Clark Street, a shooting near 25th and Hope that marked the third shooting on that block since June, and a double shooting near 23rd and Fond du Lac. As of Saturday night, Milwaukee police had not identified a suspect or motive in the shooting near 42nd and Lloyd, and it remains unknown whether investigators have recovered a weapon connected to the scene.
