State Representative Nearly Shot in Drive by Shooting

MILWAUKEE – On February 4^th, the day State Representative Sylvia Ortiz-Velez and family attended the funeral of her nephew, 3 year old Gideon Simos, Sylvia Ortiz-Velez and the mother of her nephews were caught in a drive-by shooting  from a passing car which then drove off.  .

“We were bringing dinner home for my grieving family when someone driving by starting shooting at a pedistriatian walking by my car. The pedistrian than dove behind my truck for cover all while the assailant continued to shoot in our direction.,” –Sylvia Ortiz-Velez

The shooting happened outside of her residence on Milwaukee’s south side, Luckily no one was hurt in the incident.

“There are many reasons I voted in favor of Assembly Joint Resolution 107,  We must do all we can to ensure public safety. Assembly Joint Resolution 107 requires judges to determine whether an individual poses a public threat when setting bail amounts.”

“We need to protect the public from individuals who may pose a public threat. I would prefer a no cash bail system, because we could keep people in custody that we don’t want to bail out dangerous persons, at the same time ensuring we don’t have people in custody who are non-violent offenders. The truth is we have limited resources and we need to have room for people who do pose a threat to the public. The larger problem is how the State has systematically underfunded Milwaukee’s public safety. In order to protect the public, we need to receive our fair share of funding from the State.”

NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. It has not been verified for its accuracy or completeness.