Bobby Joe Holloway, a 37-year-old Black man, was killed in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on November 22, 2017. His death came to light early that Wednesday morning, just one day before Thanksgiving, when someone discovered his body outside on Milwaukee’s north side. At approximately 6:30 a.m., police were called to the area near North 13th Street and West Olive Street, where Holloway was found between two homes.
He had suffered a gunshot wound and was already dead when authorities began investigating the scene.
At first, Milwaukee police had not publicly identified the person who had been killed. Investigators described the death as an apparent shooting and began working both to establish the victim’s identity and determine what had led to the violence. The location where Holloway was discovered gave police a crime scene to examine, but the early public reports did not explain whether investigators believed he had been shot exactly where his body was found or whether he might have been brought there after being wounded. Police also did not disclose how long he may have been at the location before the discovery.
Several days later, authorities publicly identified the victim as Bobby Joe Holloway. The killing disturbed residents in the neighborhood, particularly because it occurred immediately before Thanksgiving. One nearby resident expressed sadness for Holloway’s family and spoke about the need for neighbors to come together in response to violence in the community. By that point, however, investigators still had not announced a motive or identified the person responsible for the shooting.
Milwaukee police continued treating Holloway’s death as a homicide and specifically reported that detectives were seeking suspects. The available contemporary reporting does not identify a suspect by name, describe a possible getaway vehicle, or disclose an argument, robbery, domestic dispute, or other event believed to have preceded the shooting. Police were also asking anyone with information about the killing to contact investigators, indicating that detectives were still trying to determine both why Holloway was killed and who was responsible.
A review of publicly available online information did not uncover a subsequent arrest, criminal charge, trial, or conviction connected to Holloway’s killing. Current online cold-case listings continue to include Bobby Holloway among cases associated with the Milwaukee Police Department, with his cause of death categorized as murder. Based on the publicly accessible information located, no suspect has been publicly identified as having been prosecuted for his death, leaving the circumstances surrounding the fatal shooting and the identity of the person responsible unresolved.
