- A 33-year-old female Milwaukee Police Department officer was injured just after midnight on July 5, 2026, when a firework exploded near her while she and other officers were chasing people setting off illegal fireworks near the Brady Street Walgreens.
- Video captured by a witness shows the officer falling to the ground and grabbing her face after the blast. She was taken to the hospital and is now recovering at home. No arrests have been made and no suspects have been identified.
- The firework incident was one of two separate incidents that injured Milwaukee police officers the same night — about two hours later, a second officer was struck by a fleeing vehicle on Water Street, leading to an officer-involved shooting in which the 18-year-old driver was arrested.
MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN — Just over six weeks after a brawl erupted at an Ohio school graduation and left parents fighting in front of their own children, the Midwest is back in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons. This time, it was not a fistfight at a school ceremony — it was a Fourth of July night on one of Milwaukee's busiest entertainment streets that turned dangerous fast, leaving a police officer knocked flat on the ground by a firework explosion and the city asking how things got this bad.
It Started as a Holiday Night on Brady Street
Brady Street is one of Milwaukee's most well-known entertainment corridors — lined with bars, restaurants, and shops, and packed with crowds on holiday weekends. On the night of July 4 going into the early hours of July 5, thousands of people were out celebrating Independence Day across the city's entertainment districts.
Shortly after midnight, officers received calls about people setting off fireworks in the Brady Street area and moved in to address it. As officers chased those responsible, a firework exploded directly near one of them.
The officer — a 33-year-old woman — was knocked completely to the ground. Video captured by witness Flacko Shahin shows her falling and immediately grabbing her face after the blast. Other officers and nearby bystanders rushed to her side within seconds. She was carried out of the parking lot near the Brady Street Walgreens while more fireworks continued to go off around her.
She was taken to the hospital. She is now recovering at home.
'It Got Really Dangerous, Really Quick'
Shahin and his wife had just parked nearby and were planning to grab hot dogs from a local restaurant when the situation changed.
"Literally all I saw was this thing coming from the air — it lands and we saw an explosion," Shahin said. "It shook the car. My wife was in the car. She thought I got hurt."
He said fireworks had been going off in the area even before the officer was hit, with some of the debris landing on his vehicle.
"Our car has burn marks from the first set of fireworks that went off," he said. "That was like the fun, and then it turned dangerous. It got like really dangerous, really quick. The whole night just took a turn. We didn't even get our hot dogs that we came for."
Another witness, Hollie Hicks, described what she saw to CBS58. "There were a group of guys throwing fireworks into the street and at the buildings and stuff," she said. "It startled me. It's just too common down here for stuff happening."
The Same Night, a Second Officer Was Hit
The firework incident was not the only time a Milwaukee police officer was put in danger that night. About two hours later — at around 2:16 a.m. — officers were responding to a chaotic scene near Water Street and Knapp Street, where gunshots had been reported and crowds were blocking streets. As officers moved in on foot, a driver in an Audi fled the scene and struck one of the officers.
The officer — a 25-year-old woman with less than a year on the force — was treated for non-fatal injuries and is expected to recover. Officers fired at the fleeing vehicle. The Audi was found about 12 blocks away, and the driver, an 18-year-old, was taken to the hospital with gunshot wounds. He is expected to survive. A gun was recovered from the vehicle and from the area near where he was arrested. Two other officers involved were placed on administrative duty pending investigation.
Milwaukee police arrested the suspect in the Water Street incident. As of publication, no arrests have been made in connection with the firework explosion on Brady Street, and no suspects have been publicly identified.
The Mayor's Response
Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson spoke to reporters on Monday, July 6, addressing both incidents directly.
"To put our public servants in harm's way, that is never OK," Johnson said. "It makes no sense to me when people decide to act badly on a holiday or any other day."
He pushed back against placing the blame entirely on law enforcement.
"This is beyond a policing thing," he said. "I don't want to put this at the feet of the police department. Those folks who go down there and cause problems, they make a decision to do that. It's wrong."
Johnson also took aim at the mindset of those responsible. "I don't know what's going on in the heads, in the minds, of some of these folks out here misbehaving the way that they are," he said. "I'd imagine their parents have a lot of shame in the way that they're behaving on the streets. I certainly do. It's just sad."
The incidents unfolded against a backdrop of real operational strain. According to the union representing Milwaukee officers, the department is currently roughly 200 officers short of full staffing — a gap that complicated the city's ability to cover multiple entertainment districts, festivals, and disturbances simultaneously on the same holiday night.
Brady Street Business Improvement District had launched a safety pilot program less than two weeks before the incident in direct response to longstanding concerns about violence in the area. Milwaukee Downtown CEO Matt Dorner issued a statement saying the organization was "disheartened" by the weekend's events and wished the officers a full recovery.
Community activist Tracey Dent also urged the public to step up. "It is sad that that happened," Dent said. "Why does Brady Street need policing and security, and still this happened? That is why you have Crime Stoppers. It is an anonymous tip line. You can make those phone calls and tell who did what."
Anyone with information on the firework explosion that injured the officer is encouraged to contact Milwaukee Crime Stoppers anonymously at 414-224-TIPS (8477).
To view more cases of shocking incidents involving law enforcement caught on camera, check out our video here:
