Kenosha, Wis. — The night turned heavy and loud near Library Park when gunfire broke the calm and took the life of 16-year-old Isiah Cooper. The shots rang out just before 8 p.m. Wednesday near 6th Avenue and 60th Street, a spot many families know well.
Police rushed in after calls about multiple people being shot. When officers arrived, they found three teenagers hurt. Cooper was hit by gunfire and pronounced dead right there on the street. The loss landed hard and fast.
A 19-year-old man was also shot and rushed to a local hospital. A 15-year-old boy suffered a serious head injury and was taken for treatment as well. Both survived and remain under medical care.
Investigators moved quickly. Police arrested two people at a nearby home, a 16-year-old boy and a 19-year-old man. Officers have not said what sparked the violence or how the moments unfolded before the shots.
Authorities stressed that the shooting appears to be isolated. They said there is no ongoing danger to the neighborhood. Still, the area felt shaken as word spread.
The Kenosha Unified School District confirmed that all three teens are students in the district. Cooper attended Bradford High School. The two injured teens attend Indian Trail High School. Counselors are being made available as classmates try to make sense of the loss.
Friends and neighbors describe Cooper as a kid who should have been worrying about school, not survival. A block from a park, on a regular night, his life ended. The questions left behind feel louder than the gunshots.
Police are asking anyone with information to come forward. Even small details matter, they said, as detectives work to bring clarity and accountability to a community in mourning.
