Isaiah Allen, Death – Relatives of a 29-year-old man shot to death early Wednesday at a Milwaukee gas station claim he was shot by a security guard for stealing snack cakes. Family and friends of Isaiah Allen blockaded the pumps and the store entrance at the Clark station at Teutonia and Roosevelt Wednesday in protest. Family members, including Allen’s parents, say they know the gunman worked as a security guard, at least unofficially.
Allen lived just a block from the gas station where he was shot to death around 6:20 a.m. “He was funny, loving, he’d do anything to help somebody,” said his mom Natalie Easter. She said he went to the store with some friends, who told her they saw Allen get shot in the head after he shoplifted some snack cakes. “He’s got two beautiful kids, 9 and 3, and now they gotta grow up without their daddy,” Easter said. “Over a box of 25-cent cakes. I still can’t wrap my head around that.”
Allen’s uncle Shawn Moore said he was shot when he was already outside the store. “Allegedly over some cupcakes, this is what the witnesses stated. Shot him outside the store,” Moore said. We reached out to the store’s owner for comment, who didn’t respond, but an employee denied the gunman worked for them. According to city of Milwaukee online records, the business was just declared a public nuisance by the Milwaukee Police Department in March after an incident in which shots were fired outside and a separate incident involving an armed robbery at one of the pumps.
Allen’s family and friends blocked off the pumps throughout the day with their cars, angry the business reopened shortly after the shooting. “It’s sad,” said Allen’s father, Troy Allen. “It’s tragic, but the sad part about it is how they just washed his blood off and then re-opened up like nothing had happened. Like, that’s what hurts me, like nothing happened.”
Milwaukee police said the suspect remains at large, but they said they have identified him. They would not confirm that he works at the gas station. They said the incident remains under investigation.