Pierre Smith, a 37-year-old Black man, was fatally shot on April 9, 2026, outside a barbershop near West Lisbon Avenue and West Burleigh Street on Milwaukee’s north side. Smith was a well-known barber who had built a reputation through years of hard work and was remembered by friends as determined, driven and encouraging to the people around him. Milwaukee police were called to the area at approximately 5:10 p.m. after the gunfire.
Smith had suffered multiple gunshot wounds and was pronounced dead at the scene.
Investigators later obtained a much clearer picture of what allegedly happened through an eyewitness and surveillance cameras in the neighborhood. According to the criminal complaint, Smith had arranged to cut a man's hair that day. Smith and the witness met at the barbershop, left briefly to run errands and then returned. As Smith was preparing to unlock the business, another man approached and asked whether they were doing haircuts. Smith indicated that he would cut the man's hair. Instead, according to the witness, the man pushed past him, produced a handgun and repeatedly shot Smith. The gunman then fled west on Burleigh while Smith collapsed outside the shop.
Surveillance footage became an important part of the investigation. Prosecutors said cameras showed a black cargo van arriving and parking several doors away roughly 10 minutes before the shooting. A man matching the eventual suspect's description reportedly got out, walked toward the barbershop, looked around and returned to the van. Within about a minute of Smith and his companion arriving, the same man allegedly emerged from the van again and walked quickly toward them. Video reportedly captured the interaction before the gunman raised a firearm toward Smith and Smith fell to the ground. Additional cameras followed the fleeing man's movements as he ran past the van and through an alley, removing his jogging-suit top and hat along the way. One camera obtained a clearer image of his face and hairline.
Detectives ultimately identified 64-year-old Fred Shabazz, also known as Fred Morris Jefferson, as the alleged gunman. Investigators showed surveillance images to two people familiar with Shabazz, including a relative and a woman who reportedly had a relationship with him, and both identified him as the person depicted in the footage. The cargo van left near the crime scene also provided investigators with significant evidence. Authorities determined that Shabazz was its registered owner, and a search of the vehicle reportedly uncovered Wisconsin Department of Corrections paperwork, utility and water bills, and prescription bottles bearing his name.
Detectives subsequently searched the address connected to Shabazz through documents found in the van. Inside the residence, investigators reportedly recovered additional identifying materials, including a government-issued identification card and Social Security card. They also found a handgun and ammunition. Court records described the ammunition as being of the same caliber and manufacturer as cartridge casings recovered from the scene where Smith was killed. The available reporting does not establish that the recovered handgun had been conclusively proven through forensic testing to be the weapon used in the shooting, but the discovery became another piece of evidence cited in the criminal case.
On April 28, prosecutors charged Shabazz with first-degree reckless homicide and possession of a firearm by a felon, and an arrest warrant was issued for him. Court records cited in news reports indicated that Shabazz had a felony record extending back decades under both Fred Shabazz and Fred Jefferson, including convictions involving reckless endangerment, theft and drug offenses. Because of those prior felony convictions, prosecutors also accused him of illegally possessing a firearm.
As the case was publicly reported in late April, Shabazz had not been taken into custody and authorities were asking for assistance locating him. Searches of later available online reporting through August 2026 did not produce a reliable report confirming that he had subsequently been arrested, brought to trial or convicted in Smith's death. The publicly documented case therefore remained at the charging-and-warrant stage, with Shabazz accused of the killing but not convicted of it. Smith's death meanwhile left a significant absence among the people who knew him through his work. Friends described the self-taught barber as someone who continually improved his craft, inspired others to pursue their own goals and made clients feel better about themselves simply through the care he put into his work.
