Scott Bucholz, a 29-year-old White/Caucasian man, was killed on August 8, 2026, during a double shooting inside an apartment near 21st and Pierce streets on Milwaukee’s south side. Bucholz was with his close friend, Vanessa DeHerrera, when an evening that had already been marked by tension surrounding a domestic relationship erupted into gunfire.
Relatives said DeHerrera had been trying to separate from her former live-in boyfriend, Thomas Seville Zollicoffer, and Bucholz was attempting to help his friend through the situation. Bucholz’s mother said her son tried to intervene in the dispute before he was shot.
According to the criminal complaint, DeHerrera had been staying at a friend’s apartment while trying to leave Zollicoffer. Zollicoffer allegedly arrived at the residence during the afternoon and began arguing with her. A witness told investigators that at one point Zollicoffer handed DeHerrera his gun, but she returned it when he indicated that he was going to leave. Instead, investigators said he remained at the apartment and continued drinking. The confrontation continued for hours before suddenly becoming violent late that evening.
Milwaukee police were dispatched to the apartment complex at approximately 9:44 p.m. after reports of gunfire. One witness told investigators that Zollicoffer pointed a handgun toward DeHerrera’s head during the confrontation and then opened fire. Other people in the apartment scrambled for safety, with several hiding in a bedroom. Investigators recovered six spent 9 mm cartridge casings from the scene. Bucholz and DeHerrera were both found suffering from gunshot wounds and were pronounced dead.
Investigators allege that Bucholz was killed as he became caught in the violence surrounding his friend. After his eventual arrest, Zollicoffer reportedly gave investigators an account of what happened. Authorities said he initially attempted to blame Bucholz for DeHerrera’s shooting, but later changed his story and admitted responsibility for shooting both victims. According to the criminal complaint, Zollicoffer told detectives that he shot Bucholz because Bucholz had been “talking” to him in a confrontational manner. Bucholz’s family and friends have described the circumstances differently in terms of his purpose for being there: they said he was helping DeHerrera during a domestic dispute and trying to stand by a friend who needed assistance.
The violence did not end when Zollicoffer allegedly fled the Pierce Street apartment. Prosecutors say he was picked up in a vehicle and traveled across Milwaukee. Less than half an hour after Bucholz and DeHerrera were killed, Zollicoffer allegedly entered a residence near 39th and Townsend streets and fatally shot Shamarla “Asir” Hare. Witnesses described another abrupt confrontation inside that residence before Hare was shot at close range. The killings at the two locations were soon linked by investigators, turning the search for the shooter into a multi-day manhunt.
Police ultimately located Zollicoffer at a residence near 84th Street and Fiebrantz Avenue on August 11. Officers surrounded the location after authorities learned that the homicide suspect was inside, leading to a standoff. Police used tactical measures, including a flash-bang device, before Zollicoffer eventually came outside and was taken into custody. Authorities said he discarded two loaded firearms as he surrendered, including a Taurus G2C 9 mm pistol. Subsequent ballistic testing became an important part of the prosecution’s evidence. A Milwaukee homicide detective later testified that cartridge casings recovered from both homicide scenes were linked to a gun recovered when Zollicoffer was arrested.
Prosecutors charged Thomas Seville Zollicoffer with seven felonies: three counts of first-degree intentional homicide and four counts of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. The homicide charges encompass the deaths of Bucholz, DeHerrera and Hare. Authorities have said multiple witnesses were present during the shootings, and prosecutors have pointed to witness statements, Zollicoffer’s alleged admissions, physical evidence and the ballistic connection between the crime scenes and the recovered firearm as evidence supporting the case.
Two other people were subsequently charged in connection with events surrounding Zollicoffer’s flight from police, although neither was accused of personally carrying out Bucholz’s killing. Sengchanh Phengphonsavanh was accused of driving Zollicoffer after the Pierce Street shootings and was charged with harboring or aiding a felon. Zollicoffer’s cousin, Elana Cole, was also charged with harboring or aiding a felon after prosecutors alleged that she allowed him to remain at her residence for several days while authorities were searching for him. Cole additionally faced child-neglect charges related to allegations that she had left her minor children in Zollicoffer’s care despite knowing what he was accused of.
Zollicoffer appeared in court as the case proceeded through its initial stages. His cash bond was ultimately set at $1 million. At a preliminary hearing on August 24, a Milwaukee police homicide detective testified about Zollicoffer’s changing statements, the witnesses to the shootings and the ballistic evidence. A court commissioner determined that prosecutors had presented sufficient evidence for the case to proceed and bound Zollicoffer over for trial. Families of the victims attended the hearing, where the emotions surrounding the three killings were plainly visible in the courtroom.
The prosecution also raised concerns about Zollicoffer’s conduct while incarcerated. Court filings cited by local media alleged that he sent communications attempting to influence or intimidate witnesses, including a message directing someone to tell a witness to stop lying and another containing a warning toward people he believed had placed events in motion. Prosecutors sought restrictions on his communication privileges while the homicide case remained pending. As of late August 2026, Zollicoffer had been ordered to stand trial and remained jailed; no trial verdict or homicide conviction had yet been reported.
For Bucholz’s family, the criminal proceedings followed a loss that loved ones described in deeply personal terms. Friends remembered him as energetic, outgoing, devoted to his family and someone willing to show up when people he cared about needed help. His death became intertwined with a broader domestic-violence tragedy involving DeHerrera, who had reportedly been attempting to leave a troubled relationship. What began as Bucholz helping a friend ultimately placed him in the middle of a confrontation prosecutors allege became the first stage of a deadly shooting spree that claimed three lives across Milwaukee in less than half an hour.
