Violent holiday weekend

What should have been a weekend of relaxation and honoring of those who gave their lives for the country turned violent in Milwaukee.

A total of 28 shootings, four of them fatal, occurred over the course of the long weekend, ending with a gunman shooting up South Shore Park yesterday in the normally peaceful Bay View neighborhood.

Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke is calling for the city to follow Chicago Mayor Daley's lead in stepping up the police presence in high crime neighborhoods by dispatching cops in so-called "battle dress."

MPD spokesperson Anne E. Schwartz, quoted in the GM Today story, sums up what's at the root of this madness:

Schwartz said the 28 incidents since Friday night left four dead, including those killed in the park shooting, and 24 wounded.

But she said virtually all the incidents did not involve random violence, as in a street robbery, but stemmed from such things as road rage, tavern fights or arguments like the one that apparently occurred at South Shore Park.

"We can tell you that the majority of those shootings are people with anger management issues," she said.