“Today, one of our officers was shot in the line of duty,” said Alexander Ayala of the Milwaukee Police Association.

On the front line to protect people from gun violence and from the scene of a shooting, Milwaukee’s top cop and mayor have a message for the city about its problems with gun violence.

“The suspect — an unidentified male — sustained fatal gunshots,” said Milwaukee Police Chief Jeffrey Norman. “Using the firearm to bring violence into our community — absolutely unacceptable,” he added.

According to Shot Spotter, the detection system the Milwaukee Police Department uses to track when gunshots are fired in the city, over 11,000 rang out in its neighborhoods in 2024. The amount of violent and deadly shootings is slightly down, but the numbers are too high, Norman said.

“I come from a very close-knitted family,” said Milwaukee resident Antonia Perry. “My faith is very high — and the Lord, I hear him talk to me.”

A single mom raising two boys, Perry is all about family. She lives in what she describes as a pretty nice community, but a closer look reveals subtle signs that living here can be tough.

“It’s very triggering,” she said. “We hear gunshots every night.”

Some nights, ShotSpotter lights up as gunshots echo through the neighborhood.

“Oh, they’re on, they’re over on 39th. Oh, that sound like Sherman. They might be in an alley across the street. Like, we can hear where it’s coming from,” Perry recounted. “It puts me in a dark place to hear all that shooting.”

A dark place, because Perry knows about gun violence. She and one of her sons are survivors of reckless gun violence.

“Just from hearing the shots, I’ve thought I’ve been shot again,” she said.

A long-time gun owner with a concealed carry license, Perry keeps her weapon safely stored and locked away from her kids — or so she thought.

“He broke into my house and took the gun, and that’s when he went in an alley shooting it with his cousin.”

Two weeks before speaking with “Here & Now,” Perry’s then 14-year-old son left a shelter meant to give parents and kids a break from each other during difficult times. He came to an alley behind their home and fired the gun. It’s the second time in two years that he’s taken her weapon.

“They emptied the gun and had about 11 shots — nobody was hurt, thank God.”

The two boys videotaped the entire thing.

“On the video, you see both of them shooting the gun,” she said. “My worst fear was actually burying him, having to bury him. Because he could’ve killed himself, he could’ve hurt somebody else.”

Perry’s fears didn’t end there.

“I couldn’t find my firearm,” she said. “I checked him, it wasn’t on his body, but he wouldn’t tell me where it was — but then he still proceeded to go to the school.”

Perry described her growing fear.

“I couldn’t have him go to the school until I knew I had my firearm,” she said. “They checked the premises and they didn’t find it.”

Grieving, desperate and torn, in the spirit of tough love, Perry made a gut-wrenching decision.

“I took him to the police station, and I showed them the video and they arrested him,” she said. “I feel horrible, like ‘I’m the mom — this is my baby.’ This is my son and I’m turning him into the police.”

Emotionally broken, Perry turned to her faith.

“I let one of the pastors at the church know my story, and he got me connected with a guy named Quinn,” she explained.

Quinn Taylor works for the city of Milwaukee’s Office of Community Safety and Wellness, and he’s also a member of Evolve Church. From what’s called the community resource table, he explained how community members can connect with city resources.

“So Narcan is for individuals that might be suffering from overdose,” he said.

The city offers gun safety help for families who live in Milwaukee neighborhoods coping with the most gun violence and the fewest prevention resources.

“Prolific Arms, Theron speaking. Yes, absolutely, we should be able to do that for you,” said Theron Rogers when answering the phone at Prolific Arms, a gun shop in West Allis.

In one of its new programs, the city is partnered with Prolific Arms, which does a lot more than sell guns.

“We have a bunch of different weapons,” said Eddie Silas, but also noted, “we’re educators that just happen to sell guns.”

Rogers and Silas are unique gun store owners.

“Out of 6,000 gun stores in the United States, there’s only 15 being Black-owned,” Silas said.

What about Wisconsin?

“As we know of, it’s only two,” he added.

Silas described their partnership with the city.

“The mission is to educate as many people as possible because we want to see a safer Milwaukee,” he said. “The city of Milwaukee said, ‘Hey, we want to do something about gun violence.'”

It’s an urgent issue.

“The solution is education and also resources,” he said. “People think these bullets just go to outer space? No, they do not — they go up and come down with enough force to kill somebody.”

According to the Milwaukee Police Department, almost 60% of guns stolen throughout the city are taken from one place: a vehicle. Criminals are constantly weaving through crowded public parking lots at bars, restaurants, sporting events, hospitals, city buildings — pretty much anywhere people leave their vehicles — and weapons — unattended.

City officials are fighting back, and they say anybody can, with education and one simple tool.

“These right here are lock boxes sponsored by the city of Milwaukee Office of Wellness and Safety,” described Silas.

In its partnership, the city provides free gun storage lock cases and Prolific Arms gives them out and installs them for anyone who takes their concealed carry firearm safety class at Evolve Church.

“We’ve been able to train 150 members of the community in firearm education since the start of the year,” Silas said.

“It sounds like you did have a safe and have it locked away,” said Rogers as the team at Prolific Arms set aim toward helping Perry.

“What do you think you could have done better?” Rogers asked her.

It’s a free one-hour firearm safety assessment available to any gun owner who wants it.

“This here is SnapSafe lock box — you get two keys,” he explained. “We’re going to be able to give out 750 of these, so you’re going to be one of the recipients of that.”

The house call goes over multiple questions. How many weapons are in the home? How and where is it stored? How many kids live in the house? And what’s the plan if you have to reach for your weapon?

“You know, someone’s in my house — what do you do?” Rogers asked. “Do you have a designated meeting place in case of an emergency?”

“No,” Perry replied.

“If you are possessing a firearm in your house, it shouldn’t be a secret to those who’s living there,” said Taylor.

“It’s vitally important that not only us — our youth get access to the education piece,” Rogers added.

“I also learned to educate the kids and not hide it from them,” Perry shared. “Let them know that it is there and how dangerous it is if something was to happen, if they playing around with the gun.”

“We care about this because this is our community. We grew up here, our family’s here, the people that we love, our friends — we’ve taken a lot of losses,” said Silas.

Back at Evolve Church, steps from its community table, a training session is held inside their teen room.

“If you’re relying on a safety for your safety, that’s a bad decision,” Silas said. “You need to be your safety.”

Perry, her two boys, and almost 50 inner-city gun owners gather for a Saturday firearm safety course.

“We teach everything from safe handling [to] proper storage,” Silas explained.

“If this weapon unintentionally goes off, that round is going to go through the floor,” said Rogers.

For a small fee and four hours of time, some attendees receive their concealed carry permit. Others like Perry refresh themselves while educating their kids about gun safety.

“You have mothers, you have fathers, you have even kids — you have everything that represents a community in this training,” Taylor explained.

“Practicing proper firearm storage,” said Rogers to the class, who repeated the phrase.

Participants also take part in what’s called the “Prolific Pledge.”

“The ‘Prolific Pledge’ is us getting the community to commit to the goal of safe firearm ownership and education,” Silas explained.

Eleven miles from her house, Perry continued her education.

“So go ahead and slowly squeeze the trigger,” Silas explained to her.

With Silas at her side, Perry prepared to do something she’s never done as a 17-year-long gun owner — fire her weapon.

“Your feet can either be shoulder-length apart, slight bend on your knees,” said Silas.

“I’ve never had that chance to do that,” Perry explained. “I’m always in the house being the mother, I’m working, I’m going to school, I’m cooking, I’m cleaning, I’m taking care of the kids.”

Before Perry pulls the trigger, Silas provides a 20-minute hands-on refresher on firing weapons.

“So now you’re going to grab the magazine, and you insert it, finger off the trigger,” he explained. “You want to choke up a little bit more if you can.”

Silas said Perry could go ahead.

“Everything looks good,” he said. “I’m ready to get out on the range.”

Working out of stall four, the sound and power of gunfire almost instantly startled Perry.

“Ooh, s***!” she exclaimed.

“You see her shake,” Silas observed.

He noted this type of response is common.

“A lot of people in our community are walking around with PTSD and they don’t know it,” said Silas. “She almost turned around and walked out of there.”

“For me, it felt like it was going through my body — and I don’t know if it’s because I’ve already been shot before,” Perry explained.

At times, with shell casings flying everywhere, Silas had to stop and calm Perry’s nerves.

“Alright, don’t — so I see you shaking,” he said. “Put it down. Take a deep breath.”

Eventually, Perry does collect her poise.

“An intruder can be in your house right now — your kids can be screaming,” Silas said.

Perry fired her gun.

“It took a minute to get my stance and tune out the shooting, but once my coach gave me some pointers, I was able to feel more comfortable with shooting the gun,” she said.

“It’s brave — she’s absolutely brave,” said Silas.

Within a few days of partnering with the city of Milwaukee, owners of a gun store and her church, Perry became a more educated gun owner — and mom.

“We need more mothers just like her,” Silas noted, “she probably saved his life and she don’t even know it.”

“I believe that all of this is for a reason,” said Perry, “and we gon’ be alright — we gon’ be alright.”