GROUP SHOOTS AT UNDERCOVER POLICE OFFICERS IN WEST SIDE NEIGHBORHOOD

Authorities fled after men approached car while they were on surveillance

A group of people fired at a fleeing unmarked squad car carrying two
undercover police officers Tuesday afternoon near N. 19th and W. State
streets, shocking no one in this west side neighborhood near Marquette
University where residents say drugs, crime and chaos are a fact of life.

One of the bullets penetrated the vehicle but missed the officers.

Police arrested two men. The tactical enforcement unit then converged on
the home in which other suspects were believed to be hiding in the 900
block of N. 19th St. An hour later, SWAT officers left the three-story
rooming house and announced that several people had been taken in for
questioning.

However, two men fled the scene. Police were looking for a Dodge Caravan
painted three shades of blue.

A police sniper stood on the roof of a building on the west campus of Sinai
Samaritan Medical Center, 2000 W. Kilbourn Ave., almost directly behind the
home from which the men fled.

Police Lt. David Kane said the two officers had gone to the house to
conduct surveillance as the result of a complaint. He declined to say
whether it was a known drug house.

A group of at least four people standing outside the house "converged" on
the officers, Kane said. The officers identified themselves as police and
started to drive away. That is when the shots were fired at their car.

Bullets hit the car and an unoccupied car parked on the street, Kane said.
Police recovered numerous shell casings from the street.

No one was injured in the incident, which began about 2 p.m. The officers
did not fire their weapons. Kane said no weapons or drugs were recovered
from inside the house.

The excitement drew a crowd, and police detoured traffic.

Scott Tomter, who owns Badger Properties, 1824 W. State St., and rents to
Marquette students, said he tells the students to avoid renting on 19th St.
or even walking down that block.

"Maybe this will wake somebody up, and they'll clean up this neighborhood.
It's ridiculous. It's a college neighborhood and they allow this to go on,"
he said.

Tomter stood on the street with a friend, Neal Berliant, and looked past
the yellow police tape.

"They ruined this neighborhood, the drug dealers. They took over," said
Berliant, who for 21 years has owned Badger Beer Distributors, 1812 W.
State St.

Patrick Schill said he has delivered mail in this neighborhood for 17 years.

"It's all crack cocaine, the whole block. If one ain't got it, they go next
door. We've got to get that crap out of here," Schill said.

A 41-year-old man who didn't want to give his name said he has lived in the
area 25 years. He said that the house where the shooting happened is "a
24-hour place," where menacing people congregate outside.

"They wanted to roll me for my money," he said. "You never let them get
close to you."