Superior Records First Gun Homicide Of The Year

In one of the worst weeks of gun violence of the year, Wisconsin had five gun homicides over the past seven days — including the first murder in Superior this year.

Three of the gun homicides happened Saturday. In Berlin, the estranged husband of 28-year-old Melissa Tuinstra allegedly shot her and 28-year-old Justin Daniels multiple times. In Milwaukee, 39-year-old William Green was killed and so far, police have no suspects.

Additionally, a 50-year-old woman was shot to death in a robbery attempt on Milwaukee’s west side on. That makes 59 murders by gun in Milwaukee this year.

That compares to one in Superior, where 20-year-old Garth Velin died of a bullet wound to the chest on Tuesday. Five people are in custody in that case, including two 17-year-olds.

Superior Police Chief Chuck LaGesse said gun violence often centers around socioeconomic conditions and drugs.

“As heroin has become a bigger factor in the Twin Ports, there are more firearms being carried by people and utilized — thankfully not in increased numbers of shootings but we see more armed robberies and shootings from cars, drive-by type things, that we didn’t see a few years ago,” said LaGesse.

LaGesse said that for small cities like Superior, homicides have a major impact on the community.

“It’s very unfortunate that there are communities that start looking at shootings as ‘Well, that’s just a matter of course. They happen every day.’ Let’s hope that we never get to a spot in our city where anybody being killed doesn’t shock us,” said LaGesse.

Garth Velin’s Facebook cover photo quotes Martin Luther King Jr: “The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.”

Editor’s Note: Mike Simonson was WPR’s reporter in Superior for nearly 25 years. He died suddenly at his home on Sunday. This story, which aired Friday afternoon, was the last that he filed for WPR.