The City of Milwaukee has had it’s fair share of homocides this year. WAY more than last year. At the time of this posting, there have been 122 homocides in Milwaukee this year, as opposed to 88 last year. And for all I know, the 123rd homocide could have happened this morning. Yes, it’s a sad thing that is happening in the city that I live in, but honestly, it hasn’t affected me too much. After all, most of these are happening in parts of the city other than where I live. Not that these people deserve it, but it just makes me feel a little safer knowing that they usually don’t happen where I live.

Until last night.

45-year-old man shot, killed during robbery
Three men demand money from cashier while one waits in car

A 45-year-old man working the counter at Wong’s Kitchen, 9201 W. Capitol Drive, was killed during a robbery Wednesday night, said Capt. Eric Moore of the Milwaukee Police Department.

Three men wearing masks, or covering their faces with articles of clothing, rushed into the restaurant about 5:15 p.m., demanding money as a getaway driver waited in a car out front, Moore said.

One man jumped over the counter, demanding money from the cashier, Michael R. Tabbert.

Before Tabbert could give him any money, the man shot him once in the torso in front of several other employees. The gunman then fled the restaurant with his accomplices, Moore said.

Tabbert died at the scene.

Police squads were saturating the area late Wednesday, looking for the four men involved in the robbery, Moore said.

They are believed to be driving a dark General Motors four-door sedan, possibly an early 1990s Pontiac Grand Prix.

Tabbert’s mother, Darleen Tabbert, said she often worried about her son’s safety when he worked at the restaurant. She said her son had a wife and an 8-year-old daughter.

“It was so useless because they didn’t even get the money,” Darleen Tabbert said of the robbery. “I just hope they find them.”

“It was so useless.”

Yes, it was, Darleen. Why in the WORLD would you shoot this poor man? They always taught us in retail that if you were getting held up, you give that person all the money you have in the drawer. Sacrifice the store’s profits, not your life. From the way the story is spun, it sounds like this poor guy didn’t even have enough time to get the money out of the drawer before they shot him in the chest. And for what??

And when I say close to home, I mean, CLOSE TO HOME. This was a few blocks away from my house in what I still feel is a safe neighborhood. Does it worry me a bit that these guys are still out there? Sure… but even when they are caught, something needs to be done to curb the homocides in the city. I wish I had some ingenious plan of how to do it, but someone has got to do something…