Koreem Ozier, a 27-year-old Black/African American man from Racine, Wisconsin, was fatally shot on the evening of Sunday, September 20, 2026. At approximately 8:56 p.m., Racine police officers were sent to the area of 12th Street and South Memorial Drive after receiving a report of a shooting. When officers arrived, they found Ozier suffering from a gunshot wound to the chest. He was transported to an Ascension hospital in Racine, where he died from his injuries.
Investigators initially determined that Ozier had become involved in an altercation with another person shortly before the gunfire. During that confrontation, he was shot in the chest. Police described the shooting as an isolated incident and later said it did not appear to have been a preplanned attack. Authorities have not publicly disclosed what started the confrontation or identified a specific motive. Police also said the people later arrested in the investigation apparently did not know Ozier before the encounter.
The investigation moved quickly after detectives identified a vehicle believed to have been connected with the shooting. Racine officials said sound-detection technology helped alert officers to the gunfire, while automated license-plate-reader cameras assisted investigators in locating the vehicle associated with the case. Detectives eventually identified Collin Wallace and Justin Millard, both of Racine, as persons connected with the homicide. Police said one of the two was the shooter and the other was the driver of the vehicle involved.
Wallace and Millard were taken into custody on September 21. Police said Wallace was arrested outside the Racine Police Department as he was arriving to turn himself in, while Millard was arrested during a traffic stop. Investigators referred Wallace to the Racine County District Attorney's Office on a recommended charge of first-degree intentional homicide. Millard was referred on a recommended charge of aiding a felon. Police said they were not searching for any additional suspects, although detectives continued trying to speak with witnesses who had been present around the time of the shooting.
The criminal case was still in its earliest stages following the arrests. As of the most detailed charging update published September 22, the Racine County District Attorney's Office had not yet formally filed the referred charges against Wallace or Millard, and prosecutors were reviewing the investigation and could alter or add charges. Because the case had only recently been referred for prosecution, there had been no trial or conviction. Both suspects remained presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court.
Ozier was well known in Racine long before his death because of his basketball career. He became Racine Case High School's all-time leading scorer, finishing with 1,405 career points and earning consecutive state scoring titles. He later played Division I basketball at Sacred Heart University and the University of Louisiana Monroe before pursuing professional basketball overseas. Friends and relatives remembered him not simply for his athletic accomplishments but for his connection to Racine, his work with young people and his devotion to his daughter. More than 100 people gathered after his death to mourn him, with family members describing someone who tried to help others and give back to the community where he had grown up.
Racine police continued to classify Ozier's death as a homicide and said the investigation remained active even after the two arrests. Detectives asked anyone who witnessed the confrontation, possessed video of the area or had other information about what occurred near 12th Street and South Memorial Drive that night to contact investigators. The arrests provided investigators with identified suspects, but the precise circumstances that caused the confrontation and the complete sequence of events leading to the fatal shot had not yet been publicly established.
