A teenager pointed a gun at a shopper near the food court at Mayfair Mall and demanded their cell phone, and six weeks later, Wauwatosa police still don't know who he is. Now they're asking the public for help tracking him down.
According to WISN 12 News, the attempted armed robbery happened on July 17 near the mall's food court in Wauwatosa. Police said the suspect pointed a firearm at the victim and demanded their phone before fleeing. WISN 12 News reporter Mallory Anderson detailed the description Wauwatosa investigators released: a Black male between 16 and 18 years old, roughly 5 feet 10 inches tall and weighing about 150 pounds, with an afro hairstyle.
Investigators say the suspect was last seen wearing a black-and-white long-sleeve shirt, black shorts with white writing on the legs, and black-and-white athletic shoes. He was also carrying a distinctive black backpack featuring a shark-teeth design on the front, according to the same report. The case is being tracked under Wauwatosa police case number 26-019340.
A Six-Week Gap Before the Public Appeal
The robbery attempt happened in mid-July, but the Wauwatosa Police Department did not publicly ask for the community's help identifying the suspect until August 31 — roughly six weeks later. That delay leaves open questions about why investigative leads stalled, and whether surveillance footage or license plate data gathered on mall grounds produced any early clues, as the timeline of the case suggests.
Mayfair Mall operates an automated License Plate Reader system, managed jointly by on-site and corporate security, that can share vehicle data with law enforcement during active investigations. It's unclear whether that system, or the mall's interior cameras along its roughly half-mile main concourse, played any role in this particular case, since police have not detailed what evidence they have gathered so far.
How to Submit a Tip
Anyone with information is asked to call the Wauwatosa Police Department at 414-471-8430. Tips can also be submitted anonymously through Wauwatosa Crime Stoppers, including by texting TOSA to 738477. The program offers cash rewards of up to $1,000 for anonymous tips that lead to an arrest, according to the City of Wauwatosa.
Part of a Pattern at Mayfair Mall
This is not the first time an armed confrontation has played out at Mayfair Mall. In late February, Wauwatosa police arrested three armed robbery suspects who fled into underground utility tunnels beneath the complex, where a police K-9 apprehended one of them and officers recovered a dropped firearm, CBS 58 reported. And on December 27, 2025, police investigated another armed robbery at the mall after a suspect displayed a handgun during an altercation over stolen items near an exit, according to WTMJ.
The mall has also seen more serious violence in its history. On November 20, 2020, eight people were injured in a shooting near the Macy's entrance following an altercation between two groups, which led to the arrest of a 15-year-old shooter, per Wikipedia's account of the incident. Months earlier, on February 2, 2020, 17-year-old Alvin Cole was fatally shot by a Wauwatosa police officer outside the mall after he discharged a handgun during a foot pursuit — an event that sparked local protests and heightened public debate over mall safety and policing.
Mayfair Mall has since put security measures in place, including a Parental Guidance Required policy requiring visitors 17 and younger to be accompanied by an adult 21 or older on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday evenings after 3 p.m. Hoodline previously reported on a separate violent incident inside the mall's Sephora store, where a retail theft escalated into a struggle that ended in probation, not prison for two people involved.
If the teenage suspect in the July 17 case is eventually identified and charged, he could face serious exposure under Wisconsin law. Armed robbery involving the use or threat of a dangerous weapon is a Class C felony carrying up to 40 years in prison and a $100,000 fine, while an attempt to commit that felony carries a maximum sentence of up to half that statutory limit, according to Wisconsin statutes. For now, the case remains open, and police say identifying the young man in the shark-teeth backpack is the priority.
