He was 33. He was a cook at an Italian restaurant. He had five children.
And late Tuesday afternoon, witnesses say four men barged into his apartment on Northport Drive, punched his girlfriend, threatened his children and gunned him down.
He was taken to a hospital in critical condition, and later died.
The police have not identified him publicly. Madison365 is not releasing his full name at this time.
As of Tuesday night, police said three to four suspects were still at large. Police Chief Mike Koval told WISC-TV that investigators are reviewing surveillance video from the residence and surrounding buildings as they search for the assailants. Koval said the violence appeared targeted.
“We are devastated by the loss of Mike and are making arrangements to plan his funeral and would ask that you keep our family, and especially his kids in your thoughts and prayers,” the family said in a statement issued by Michael Johnson, who spent much of Tuesday night and Wednesday morning with them.
“The Focused Interruption Coalition (FIC) connected (with) the family last night and also met with neighbors and offered prayers and support,” Johnson posted on Facebook. “Today FIC will connect with the family again to identify services to help his children and others during these difficult times.”
Madison police spokesperson Joel DeSpain told Madison365 by email Wednesday morning that no arrests have yet been made.
“There is always a danger to the community when we have homicide suspects at large, although detectives do not believe that this was a random attack,” he said. ” Everything is fluid at this hour in terms of what more will be released to the media. It will depend – to a large extent – on how the investigation progresses.”
We will continue to update this story as more information becomes available.
