A Milwaukee Walgreens security guard faces a felony charge after allegedly shooting a man who was running away from a fight outside the store near West Wisconsin Avenue and North 35th Street. Victor K. Wallace-Nelson, 28, was charged with first-degree recklessly endangering safety after the Sept. 15 confrontation left the man with a gunshot wound to his leg and damaged two vehicles, WISN reported.
The criminal complaint, as described by WISN, says police responded after a ShotSpotter alert recorded seven gunfire-like sounds. Officers found the injured man and bullet holes in vehicles in the parking lot. Wallace-Nelson told investigators that he recognized the man from previous suspected thefts at the store and that a confrontation began after he accused him of concealing merchandise and ordered him to leave or submit to a pat-down.
Wallace-Nelson said the man struck him, that he struck back, and that he later saw the man holding a knife. He told investigators he drew his firearm because he believed the knife presented a threat. But surveillance video reviewed by investigators reportedly showed Wallace-Nelson throwing the first punch and did not appear to show the knife or the guard wiping spit from his eyes, details that were central to his account, according to the complaint cited by WISN.
The complaint alleges that Wallace-Nelson fired one shot near the man's head and then fired several more as the man fled. The charge concerns the alleged use of deadly force; the complaint's account and the surveillance evidence present competing descriptions of how the confrontation escalated. A charge is not a finding of guilt, and the available reporting does not establish how the case will be resolved in court.
Comparable Milwaukee-area cases involve different circumstances
Other Milwaukee-area cases show that violence involving security personnel has taken several forms, but they do not by themselves demonstrate a citywide trend or explain the Walgreens shooting. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported that a 28-year-old man was charged after a Jan. 28, 2024, shooting outside Eve Lounge on West Fond du Lac Avenue that killed a security guard and injured two other people: Journal Sentinel.
In a separate case, FOX6 Milwaukee reported that former gas-station security guard William Pinkin was convicted in the 2023 shooting death of Isaiah Allen near Teutonia and Roosevelt and sentenced to life in prison without eligibility for extended supervision: FOX6 Milwaukee. Those cases differ from Wallace-Nelson's: the Walgreens case involves a guard charged after allegedly firing at a fleeing person, while the other examples involved people charged or convicted in attacks on security personnel or a customer.
