Madison Reporter

The Madison Police Department is searching for five people directly involved in Tuesday night’s deadly shooting at Harmony at Grandview Commons.

Surveillance video shows a vehicle, believed to be a Lexus SUV, pull into the east side apartment complex around 8:30 p.m. Four people immediately got out of the vehicle and began shooting, while a fifth person remained inside.

“They fired round after round, not caring for who or what they may strike,” Madison Police Chief Shon Barnes said during a Wednesday afternoon media briefing.

“It was a cowardly act of violence."

Nearly 50 rounds were fired during the shooting. Officers arrived to find a 15-year-old girl suffering from a gunshot wound. They immediately began treating her in an attempt to save her life. She was transported to the hospital, where she passed away.

Two 14-year-old males also showed up to area hospitals with gunshot wounds. One has been treated and released. The other, as of Wednesday afternoon, is still receiving care and is considered stable. A 14-year-old girl suffered a graze wound.

Multiple homes were struck by flying bullets. Two of the homes were occupied by children and families.

Officers worked until the early hours of Wednesday morning processing the scene. Detectives returned to the complex later Wednesday morning searching for more physical evidence.

They are trying to determine if the teens were targeted and are working to figure out why this deadly shooting occurred.

A still frame from the surveillance video gathered at the scene is attached to this report. The image shows the suspects and vehicle involved in the shooting.

Anyone who recognizes the vehicle involved or the suspects or has information about this shooting is asked to contact Madison Area Crime Stoppers at 608-266-6014 or online at p3tips.com . Information may be shared anonymously.

All of the victims lived in the area and were students within the Madison Metropolitan School District. The teen who died was a sophomore at East High School.

"There are no words to describe the immense impact of this tragedy," Interim MMSD Superintendent Lisa Kvistad said during the media briefing.

Officers are providing extra patrols around East and La Follette high schools and Whitehorse Middle School as a precautionary measure. At this time, there are no known retaliation plans or threats against other students.

Tuesday’s shooting was Madison’s 10th homicide of the year. The Dane County Medical Examiner’s Office will release the victim’s name, as is standard practice.

Calls for Service

The Harmony apartment complex has been a priority location for the Madison Police Department. The city declared Harmony a chronic nuisance in 2020. Since the start of 2020, there have been more than 1,300 calls for police service to the complex.

Violence ramped up in July of this year, when a 20-year-old man was shot and killed. Since that homicide, there have been 136 calls for service.

A nuisance abatement is being evaluated at this time. A list of strong recommendations has been sent to the property owner. If changes are not made, legal action is possible.

Community Outreach Efforts

The Madison Police Department has done a number of things hoping to improve the situation at Harmony apartments.

The Community Outreach Team has invested in more than 20 hours of programming for youth at the complex since August. One outreach officer visits the complex weekly, looking for ways to help area youth and families.

These events are in addition to the programming currently being done by East District neighborhood resource officers and patrol officers.

The neighborhood resource officers, Captain of the East District and local alders have attempted to hold monthly meetings with the property’s owner. The owners have also been provided monthly calls for service since December 2022. A list of safety improvements, such as improving their security camera system and lighting and implementing parking time limits, have also been provided.

Officers have also spent more than 35 hours doing proactive work, such as extra drive-by patrols between July 14 and October 10.

On Tuesday, officers did 12 proactive patrols in the areas near the apartment complex prior to the shooting.

Violence prevention is a community-wide effort.

"The death of a child is the worst thing that any city faces," Madison Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway said during Wednesday's briefing.

"It shocks our sensibilities, it hurts our hearts, and my thoughts are with the family, the friends, the classmates and the neighbors of these young victims. Our entire community is in mourning for the young girl that was killed, but as I hope as I hope we understand by now, in a nation that is wracked with gun violence, thoughts and prayers are not enough."

If anyone is interested in starting programming or volunteering their time at the Harmony complex, please email Public Health Madison Dane County at health@publichealthmdc.com.

Original source can be found here.