Shamarla “Asir” Hare, a 39-year-old Black/African American woman, was fatally shot in Milwaukee on the night of August 8, 2026, during what authorities say was the second scene in a series of killings that unfolded across the city in less than half an hour. Hare was at a residence in the 3400 block of North 39th Street near West Townsend Street when gunfire erupted. Milwaukee police were called to the area shortly after 10 p.m. and found Hare suffering from a gunshot wound to the head.
She was rushed to a hospital and taken into surgery, but doctors were unable to save her.
Investigators soon determined that Hare’s killing was connected to another deadly shooting that had occurred only minutes earlier and roughly four miles away. At about 9:45 p.m., officers had been dispatched to the Knitting Factory Lofts near 21st and Pierce streets, where Vanessa DeHerrera and Scott Bucholz had been shot. DeHerrera died in the apartment, while emergency personnel attempted to save Bucholz before he also died. Police described the initial incident as domestic-violence related and began searching for a single suspect believed to have fled that scene.
Prosecutors later identified that suspect as Thomas Seville Zollicoffer. According to the criminal complaint, Zollicoffer had been DeHerrera’s former live-in boyfriend and arrived at the gathering where DeHerrera and Bucholz were present. Witness accounts described an argument between Zollicoffer and DeHerrera before the shooting began. Authorities allege that Zollicoffer shot DeHerrera, then turned the gun toward others in the apartment and fatally shot Bucholz before leaving.
Investigators say Zollicoffer then traveled to the north side of Milwaukee. According to the complaint and subsequent court testimony, he entered the residence near 39th and Townsend where Hare was located and shot her twice. One report based on the criminal complaint said witnesses heard Zollicoffer apologize as he left, allegedly saying that his life was now over. Hare’s relatives told local reporters that the suspect had come to the residence after the earlier killings and that Hare wanted no part of what had happened. Her family has described her final moments as those of someone standing up for herself rather than becoming involved in the violence.
There has been some conflicting public reporting about exactly what relationship, if any, existed between Hare and Zollicoffer. Some early reports described Hare as the parent of one of his children, while other reporting initially suggested another personal connection. However, a Milwaukee Journal Sentinel report later issued a correction specifically noting that the criminal complaint did not clearly establish a relationship between the two. Prosecutors have focused instead on what witnesses, physical evidence and Zollicoffer’s own alleged statements indicate happened inside the residence.
The investigation quickly connected the two crime scenes. Police recovered cartridge casings and other ballistic evidence, and a Milwaukee homicide detective later testified that casings found at both locations were connected to a firearm recovered when Zollicoffer was eventually captured. Investigators also relied on multiple witnesses from the two scenes. During a subsequent police interview, authorities say Zollicoffer ultimately admitted responsibility for all three shootings. According to the complaint, he initially gave investigators a different account of the first killings before acknowledging that he had shot DeHerrera and Bucholz. When detectives questioned him about Hare, he allegedly admitted shooting her in the head and claimed that she had grabbed him.
The killings triggered a manhunt that lasted more than two days. On August 11, police received information that the wanted suspect was at a residence near 84th Street and Fiebrantz Avenue. Officers surrounded the home shortly after noon and attempted to make contact. Zollicoffer barricaded himself inside, prompting Milwaukee police to deploy tactical officers and crisis negotiators. After approximately an hour, he came outside. News footage and police accounts described a tense confrontation in which he reportedly told officers to shoot him. Police ultimately used less-lethal tactics, including a flash-bang device, before officers rushed forward, subdued him and took him into custody.
Prosecutors subsequently charged Zollicoffer with seven felonies: three counts of first-degree intentional homicide and four counts of possession of a firearm by a felon. Court records and reporting have noted that he had previous felony convictions that prohibited him from legally possessing firearms. The homicide counts encompass the deaths of DeHerrera, Bucholz and Hare. A conviction for first-degree intentional homicide in Wisconsin can result in life imprisonment.
Authorities also charged people accused of helping Zollicoffer after the shootings. Elena Cole, identified as his cousin, was accused of allowing him to stay at her residence despite allegedly knowing that he had killed people. Prosecutors charged Cole with harboring or aiding a felon as well as child-neglect offenses after alleging that she left her children in the home while Zollicoffer was there. Sengchanh Phengphonsavanh was separately charged with harboring or aiding a felon. Prosecutors allege that Phengphonsavanh drove Zollicoffer following the shootings, including during the period when he traveled from the first homicide scene to the area where Hare was later killed.
Zollicoffer appeared for a preliminary hearing on August 24. A Milwaukee County court commissioner found sufficient evidence for the homicide prosecution to move forward and bound him over for trial. Testimony at the hearing included the alleged confession as well as ballistic evidence tying a recovered firearm to casings found at both homicide scenes. He remained jailed on a $1 million bond.
The case took another turn while Zollicoffer was incarcerated. Prosecutors accused him of using jail communications to attempt to influence or intimidate witnesses. Court filings alleged that he sent messages directing someone to tell a witness to stop lying and made statements suggesting people he believed responsible for his situation would pay. At an August 28 hearing, Milwaukee County Circuit Court Judge David Borowski revoked nearly all of Zollicoffer’s jail communication privileges, allowing essentially only necessary communications with his attorneys. His trial was scheduled to begin on November 16, 2026.
Away from the courtroom, Hare’s relatives have emphasized the life lost behind the criminal case. They described Shamarla as a Navy veteran who enlisted after high school, later received an honorable discharge, and remained devoted to her family. She was remembered as generous, protective and willing to help relatives, children and people who were struggling. Her mother said Hare stood up for herself before she was killed, while other relatives remembered someone who was deeply loved and whose death left an enormous absence. What began that night as violence at one Milwaukee apartment ultimately stretched across the city, leaving three people dead and producing a prosecution that, as of late August 2026, remained pending against Zollicoffer and others accused of assisting him afterward.
