There were two more gun homicides in the state in the past week, both of them in Beloit, bringing Wisconsin Public Radio’s ongoing tally for the year to 31.
Damont Haley, 36, was killed in the early morning hours of April 25, and Raymond Holloway, 20, died of gunshot wounds that same afternoon. The murders occurred in different parts of the city.
Capt. Dan Risse of the Beloit Police Department says detectives are still investigating whether the two shootings are connected.
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“In my time here at the PD in 27 years, I can’t recall two homicides occurring 10 hours apart,” said Risse.
In fact Risse says it’s unusual for there to be more than five homicides in the city in an entire year, regardless of whether guns are involved. Last year, there was only one homicide.
“In our community, there’s relationships between the parties that are involved and it’s just a matter of the means,” said Risse. “In this particular case recently, it was firearms. But that isn’t always the case.“
While there have been no other gun murders this year in Beloit, police have responded to 26 calls about shots fired this year in several different neighborhoods. That’s half the number of such calls during the same period last year.
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