Christopher White, a 38-year-old Black/African American man from Milwaukee, was killed late on April 10, 2026, in a double shooting inside an apartment on the city’s north side. Milwaukee police said gunfire erupted at about 11:50 p.m. in the 1000 block of West Atkinson Avenue, near North 10th and North 11th streets. Officers responding to 1033 W. Atkinson Avenue found White in a motorized wheelchair inside the apartment.
He had been shot and had no pulse, and he was pronounced dead at the scene. Another person in the apartment had suffered gunshot wounds to the arm and shoulder and was rushed to a hospital with injuries that were expected to be survivable. An autopsy later determined that White had been struck by three gunshots, with wounds involving the left side of his face, chest and head.
The first moments of the investigation quickly produced information about a possible shooter. According to the criminal complaint, the surviving victim was still conscious when an officer asked whether he knew who had shot him. He identified the shooter as someone named “Marcus” before losing consciousness and being transported for medical treatment. Investigators also noticed a cellphone mounted on a tripod inside the apartment that appeared to have been livestreaming what was happening. That device, along with witness accounts and surveillance footage from the building, became important evidence as detectives reconstructed the events surrounding White’s killing.
After his condition stabilized, the surviving victim told detectives that he, White and a person he knew as Marcus had been gambling with dice inside the apartment. He also knew Marcus by the nickname “Checkmate” from time they had spent at Kettle Moraine Correctional Institution. According to the complaint, White had been winning and decided that he wanted to stop playing. Marcus allegedly objected because he was losing, and an argument developed. When the surviving victim attempted to intervene and break up the confrontation, he said Marcus shot him. White then reportedly tried to stop the gunman, and the struggle continued into the kitchen. From where he was wounded, the surviving victim heard three additional gunshots. When detectives later showed him a photograph of Marcus H. Berry, he identified Berry as the person who had shot him.
Investigators obtained another account from a person who had reportedly been watching the apartment’s livestream when the violence unfolded. According to court filings, that witness saw White and a braided-haired individual playing dice before an argument developed over approximately $30 to $40. The witness recalled the other gambler discussing having recently been released from prison after a previous shooting connected to gambling. White reportedly responded that the disagreement was not serious enough to justify violence. Surveillance evidence cited in the criminal complaint showed Berry leaving the apartment after the shooting with what appeared to be a handgun in his hand. Investigators said no one else was seen entering or leaving the apartment until a woman arrived minutes later, discovered the victims and summoned police.
The circumstances were particularly painful for White’s family because he had already survived serious gun violence years earlier. Loved ones said an earlier shooting had left him paralyzed, caused the loss of a leg and required him to use a wheelchair and rely on others for some of his care. Despite those limitations, relatives described him as devoted to his family and willing to help other people. His mother, Erica White, remembered him as someone who would readily help another person, while relatives said he was one of six siblings and enjoyed being surrounded by his large family. His girlfriend described the shock of seeing someone who had survived so much become the victim of another shooting. Family and friends gathered for vigils and a balloon release in the days afterward, mourning a life that ended only days before his next birthday and publicly calling for justice.
Police arrested Marcus H. Berry on April 20 at a residence near North 40th Street and West Sheridan Avenue. Officers obtained a search warrant for the property and recovered a black Hi-Point Model C9 9mm handgun from a laundry hamper. Court records reported that ballistic testing determined the weapon was consistent with the firearm responsible for cartridge casings recovered from the homicide scene. Investigators also recovered clothing that allegedly corresponded with what Berry could be seen wearing in surveillance footage on the night of the shooting, as well as plastic bags containing what was described in the complaint as blood evidence.
Milwaukee County prosecutors subsequently charged Berry with first-degree reckless homicide in connection with White’s death, first-degree reckless injury for the shooting of the surviving victim, and possession of a firearm by a felon. Court filings also revealed that Berry had a significant prior history involving a remarkably similar incident. Prosecutors said he had previously been convicted of multiple felonies after shooting several people during a dice game in 2017 following a dispute over money. Wisconsin Department of Corrections records cited by local news outlets showed that he had been released from prison onto supervised release on December 30, 2025, only a little more than three months before White was killed.
The evidence described by prosecutors therefore included an eyewitness identification from the surviving victim, a second witness who reportedly observed portions of the confrontation through a livestream, building surveillance showing Berry leaving with what appeared to be a pistol, and a handgun recovered after Berry’s arrest that investigators linked through ballistic testing to the scene. Berry remains the person formally accused in White’s killing. The available online reporting reviewed through August 30, 2026, documents his arrest and the filing of the three felony charges but does not report that a trial has been completed or that Berry has been convicted in White’s death. The homicide prosecution consequently remained unresolved in the publicly available reporting, with the allegations against Berry still subject to determination in court.
