Milwaukee shooting at 91st and Silver Spring; 19-year-old charged

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Kemonte Jefferson

MILWAUKEE - A 19-year-old Milwaukee man is accused of shooting and wounding another person at a gas station near 91st and Silver Spring. The accused is Kemonte Jefferson, – and he faces the following criminal counts:

• Second-degree reckless injury
• Possession of a firearm by a felon

Shooting at 91st and Silver Spring

What we know:

According to the criminal complaint, Milwaukee police were dispatched on Friday night, Aug. 15 to investigate a shooting complaint near 91st and Silver Spring Drive. When officers arrived on the scene, they made contact with a person who was shot and wounded. That person was taken to Children's Wisconsin for treatment of a gunshot wound.

Scene at 91st and Silver Spring

Investigators recovered security camera footage at the gas station and "observed an individual, later identified as the defendant Kemonte Jefferson, standing near the checkout counter with a handgun tucked under his armpit," the complaint says. The defendant said hello to someone who came into the store. While he was doing that, a second person, the shooting victim, walked into the store "holding a firearm in his hands pointed down. Video footage shows the defendant almost immediately shooting (the victim) in the upper body at least once, and then turning and at least pointing it at a second individual as he runs out of the gas station," the complaint says.

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Police later interviewed the shooting victim. He stated when he got to the gas station, "he took a gun with him that was under the driver's seat of the car and he held the gun in his hand. He took the gun because he felt that he needed protection. (The shooting victim) stated he held the gun in his hand because otherwise someone might try to rob him for the gun," the complaint says. The shooting victim told police he knew the man at the counter as "Baby D." The victim said he did not know why "Baby D" shot him and "believes that Baby D mistook him for someone else or that Baby D had a problem with someone that he knows," the complaint says.

Interview with defendant

What they're saying:

During an interview with police, Jefferson acknowledged shooting the victim. The complaint says he and the victim "have been arguing recently about the defendant disrespecting a female (the victim) knows as well as the defendant disrespecting a group they are both affiliated with." The defendant stated since then, the victim "had been repeatedly messaging him on Instagram threatening to kill him," the complaint says. Jefferson told police "the victim swung open the gas station door with his gun in his hand and the victim had a look on his face as if he wanted to kill him. The defendant stated he immediately shot the victim before the victim could shoot him," the complaint says.

What's next:

Court records show Jefferson's bond was set at $75,000 on Saturday, Aug. 23. He's due back in court for a preliminary hearing on Aug. 29.