Richard Allikas Jr., a 34-year-old White man, was shot and killed during the early morning hours of February 13, 2017, on Milwaukee’s south side. The shooting occurred shortly after 6:20 a.m. in the area of South 24th Street and West Greenfield Avenue, with other contemporary reporting placing the gunfire near South 26th Street and Greenfield. Milwaukee police and fire personnel responded to the scene and attempted lifesaving measures, but Allikas died from his injuries at the scene.
The killing happened as the neighborhood was beginning its Monday morning routine. Police initially released little information about what led to the shooting. Investigators described the death as a homicide and began trying to determine a motive while searching for whoever was responsible. No suspect was publicly identified in the immediate aftermath of the shooting.
Allikas was the father of four children. His mother, Norma Ramirez, learned of her son’s death after a relative received a call saying he had been killed. Ramirez acknowledged that her son had experienced difficulties in the years before his death, including involvement with drugs, but said he had gotten clean before he was murdered. She made clear that whatever problems he had experienced did not justify someone taking his life. She also addressed those responsible, expressing her belief that they would eventually be held accountable.
In the days following the homicide, Allikas’ family was left not only grieving but also trying to arrange his funeral and care for the children he left behind. Relatives began seeking assistance with funeral expenses, and donations were also being accepted through a Milwaukee funeral home. Contemporary reports did not describe the shooting as an accidental or self-inflicted death; police treated it from the outset as a criminal homicide and continued searching for a motive and suspect or suspects.
No publicly available reporting located identifies anyone as having been arrested or charged with killing Allikas, and no trial or conviction connected with his homicide could be found. Current online cold-case listings continue to place Richard Allikas among Milwaukee Police Department homicide cases, indicating that the killing remains unresolved publicly. The identity of the person or people responsible, as well as the motive for the early-morning shooting, therefore remains unknown in the available records.
