It was just after 4 a.m. on Monday morning and I was on the way to pick up my daughter and drive her to the airport for an early morning flight.

I turned east on Meinecke off of Humboldt. As I approached Buffum, just a block away, I saw a police car blocking the intersection, with an officer inside and his lights flashing. I looked south on Buffum and saw another car on North Avenue.

After asking, the officer said there had been a shooting. But he said nothing else. After I dropped my daughter off I was driving home, I was listening to the news on the radio when I heard that it had been a particularly bad weekend for shootings in Milwaukee.

I called the Milwaukee Police Department and asked for as breakdown of the events of the weekend. I also asked for the racial breakdown of the participants. Here’s what I got.

1. Milwaukee Police are investigating a homicide that happened around 1:10 a.m. on April 6 in the 2300 block of N. Buffum Street.  A 26-year-old Milwaukee man was shot inside a vehicle.  The victim was taken to a local hospital where he later died from his injuries.  Milwaukee Police continue to search for suspects.  (26-year-old African-American male victim; Unknown race on suspect)

2. The Milwaukee Police are investigating a Homicide that occurred at 104th and W. Kiehnau Ave. at 3:20 pm on April 4. At this time it appears that the victim came to the location with another person to purchase narcotics. During the drug transaction the victim was shot by the drug dealer who fled the scene on foot after the shooting. The second person in the car with the victim also fled but returned and is cooperating with police. The 27 year old male victim from Elkhorn WI. died on scene as a result of his injuries.  Two suspects, a 17-year-old male and a 26-year-old male, were arrested later that evening.  (Victim is white; Suspects are African-American)

3. The Milwaukee Police are investigating a triple shooting / homicide at 5219 W. Hampton, outside of Comments Bar around 2:00 a.m. on April 5. At bar closing two individuals bumped into each other starting an argument. At one point both individuals went to their cars, retrieved firearms and once again met in front of the bar and continued to argue. At one point they both drew their weapons and shot each other, both died on scene from their injuries. The third victim, the brother of one of the shooters was caught in the crossfire and received a non life threatening injury. He is currently being treated at a local hospital. Our investigation into this incident is ongoing... (As noted before, victims/suspects are African-American)

4. A shooting that occurred at 2:19PM in Lincoln Park in the 5200 block of N. Green Bay on April 4th.  The victim, a 22 year old male from Milwaukee was shot while arguing with a subject during a basketball game. The subject fled the area after the shooting, the victim was transported to a local hospital for treatment of his non-life threatening injury.   Our investigation into this matter is ongoing… (Victim is African-American; Suspect is African-American male)

5. A shooting that occurred at 2:41PM in the 4000 Block of N. 27th St. on April 4th.  The victim was the passenger in an auto that was pulling out of a gas station when they nearly collided with another vehicle. The driver of the victim’s vehicle yelled at the driver of the other auto who, pulled out a gun and fired one round at the victim’s vehicle striking the victim. The actors then fled the scene, the victim, a 30 year old male from Milwaukee suffered a minor wound and was transported to a local hospital for treatment. Our investigation into this matter is ongoing… (Victim is Hispanic; Suspect is African-American male)

6. A shooting that occurred at 2:53PM in the 7200 Block of N. Teutonia Av. on April 4th.  After a funeral two members of the same family began to argue, as the victim started to drive away the actor fired shots at the car striking him. The actor, a 22 year old male from Milwaukee was arrested a short time later by the Brown Deer Police Department. The victim a 32 year old male from Milwaukee suffered a non-life threatening injury and was transported to a local hospital for treatment. Our investigation into this matter is ongoing… (Victim is African-American; Suspect is African-American male)

7. A shooting that occurred at 3:43PM in the 3700 Block of N. 23rd St. on April 4th. The victim, a 19 year old male from Milwaukee stated he was shot by the occupants of an auto that passed him as he was walking down the street.  He suffered a non-life threatening injury and was transported to a local hospital for treatment.  Our investigation into this matter is ongoing… (Victim is African-American; Suspects are African-American males)

I certainly don’t have any answers for this kind of violence, short of banning guns altogether. But reading that list, I’ve got questions. If you have the answers, I'd love to hear them.

• Do people in Milwaukee care about this? I mean the mllennial movers and shakers, who are mainly white people. Do they care?
• Does anybody have any good ideas about how to stop this?
• Why does so many of these shootings involve black people? Just 40 percent of Milwaukee’s population is black, and it seems like this violence is unbalanced.
• How come there is no widespread community outrage?
• Where are the black leaders who should be shouting about this on a daily basis?
• Is it possible that a massive increase in police manpower would have an impact?
• What the hell is wrong with people who pull out a gun and shoot in order to settle some kind of dispute or grudge?
• And the biggest question of all: Why am I so damn sad about what’s happening in my city?