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Cop Guilty of Accidental Gun Discharge in Southridge

A Milwaukee police officer whose gun accidentally discharged in the mall last year pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct.

The Milwaukee police officer whose gun went off in Southrige Mall last year has pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct.

Michael Edwards, 46, was originally charged with endangering safety by use of a deadly weapon but pleaded guilty Wednesday to the reduced charge of disorderly conduct.

The gunfire at the mall happened Nov. 2. Edwards told Greendale police he was was at Auntie Anne's Pretzel with his fiancee when he reached into his left back pocket for his wallet and felt his gun slide down into his pants. He reached for the gun to stop it from sliding down and it discharged. The .40 caliber gun did not have a safety and had not been secured in a holster, according to the complaint. 

The complaint also said that a witness, Amanda Studebaker, was at Auntie Anne’s Pretzel when she heard "a very loud bang and felt something hit the
back of her leg and then felt a stinging sensation."

Edwards also is the president of the Milwaukee Police Supervisors' Organization.

A sentencing hearing is scheduled for October 24. 

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Mark Barnes October 22, 2012 at 10:48 pm
This douche bag should lose his job and be in prison. Any self respecting gun owner knows enough to carry in a holster!
Christopher Reeves October 24, 2012 at 04:44 am
Milwaukee just passed s concealed carry law. A veteran officer should be held accountable this was very poor gun etiquette. He should be reprimanded and sued in civil courts.
J Hef October 25, 2012 at 06:43 pm
First off for years officers carried guns in their waistbands, and yes now things have changed and he will be held accountable at his job. But he had no intention of hurting anyone and carried his weapon to safeguard the public. You bash him for having his gun and then bash him, because of a mistake that he has and will pay for. However had their been an incident like one of the these mass shootings and he not been armed and not helped then you would bash him for not doing his job for you or your wife or your children. So you all want it all. You want all officers to be infallible and then you want them to protect you to. They are only human and you can't have it all. Because of comments like yours Barnes Officers choose to walk away instead of getting involved now a days.
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Mark Maley (Editor) June 8, 2013 at 05:59 pm
Welcome to Greendale! We're glad to see that you're part of our community. Patch readers can findRead More out more about this new business in a profile that will be published next week.
David Cotey (Editor) June 9, 2013 at 11:04 am
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Steve ® June 6, 2013 at 12:38 am
LOL teachers doing anything in the summer. Full time pay for part time work and you think they willRead More use this without a union mandate!
Walker celebrates after defeating the liberal unionista blue fisters
Jason Patzfahl June 5, 2013 at 12:23 pm
We can look up to see who signed a recall of their elected official because of grievances, but weRead More cannot look up who donated large wads of ca$h to the same official's campaign...Thank you GOP for turning that window of open accountability into a one-way mirror with the GOP looking out and everyone else stuck looking inward, wandering why we don't get the same vantage point. A bit hypocritical don't you think? And BTW, your GOP budget just ticked off every principal, superintendent and public school family in the state of WI today. Good luck on that second term of negative growth (-0.74).
Steve ® June 5, 2013 at 12:38 pm
Jason- See the IRS for list of donors to pro republican groups. They were illegally collected andRead More distributed. You signed the recall, no one made you do it. Deal with it already and stop changing the subject to interject some off the wall non comparison. ~in solidarity
Bren June 14, 2013 at 08:20 am
I think Scott Walker's record speaks for itself in terms of state job growth and misplacedRead More priorities. "Blue fisters" didn't create Scott Walker, he's been a creature of ALEC since the early 1990s. Let's see if he decides to do a Bachmann in 2014. A lot of people who didn't vote in the recall election because they didn't understand/agree may not have voted for him in 2010. Anyone who has a 20-something college grad who can't find a job, male spouse, family member or friend in their 50s who can't find a job, was cut from needed health care benefits, etc., is bound to be looking for better leadership.