Charles Joseph, a 62-year-old Black/African American man, was killed on the afternoon of July 27, 2025, when gunfire erupted near 19th and Nash streets in Milwaukee. The shooting occurred at approximately 1:48 p.m. and left two people wounded. Joseph suffered fatal gunshot injuries and was pronounced dead at the scene, while another person was struck by gunfire and survived.
The Milwaukee County Medical Examiner’s Office later publicly identified Joseph as the person who died.
The violence unfolded in a residential neighborhood in broad daylight. After officers arrived, police tape was stretched across part of the block as investigators began processing the scene and speaking with people who had witnessed what happened. The second shooting victim was reported to be 53 years old and was transported to a local hospital with injuries that police described as nonfatal.
A witness named Rodney Harris told reporters that he knew the two people who had been shot and that he called 911 after the gunfire. Harris said Joseph had been preparing to do some work on his father's house shortly before the shooting occurred. According to Harris, the gunfire came dangerously close to him as well. He described discovering that one of the bullets apparently struck his keys while he was sitting nearby, illustrating how quickly the shooting placed other people on the block in danger.
Investigators did not immediately explain what sparked the shooting or whether Joseph and the surviving victim were specifically targeted. Milwaukee police described the circumstances surrounding the gunfire as under investigation. Early reports indicated that detectives were seeking people connected to the shooting, with police referring to both known and unknown suspects, but authorities did not publicly release names or descriptions of the individuals they were seeking.
The available online reporting reviewed does not identify an arrest connected to Joseph's killing or name anyone who was subsequently charged with his homicide. No publicly reported criminal trial or conviction tied specifically to the July 27 shooting was located in those reports. The case therefore remained publicly unresolved in the available coverage, with investigators continuing to seek information about who opened fire and what led to the deadly encounter.
Milwaukee police asked anyone with information about the shooting to contact investigators, while also providing an anonymous tip option through Milwaukee Crime Stoppers. Joseph's death became one of several shootings investigated across Milwaukee that Sunday, but the attack near 19th and Nash stood apart as a daytime double shooting that left one person dead, another hospitalized, and a neighborhood searching for answers about who was responsible.
