A fatal shooting inside a U.S. apartment building is drawing attention to concerns about race, fear and mental health in America.
Authorities say 31-year-old Dominic Nosacek has been charged with first-degree intentional homicide after allegedly killing his Black neighbor, 50-year-old Angelo Nelson, on February 2 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Nelson was found in the hallway of their apartment building with a gunshot wound to the head. Family members said he had just begun a new job that day and was on his way to do laundry when the shooting occurred.
According to court documents, Nosacek later went to a Department of Homeland Security office and told a security officer, “I just killed a militia, I shot him in the head.”
Investigators say he believed his neighbors were “militia men” who were harassing or blackmailing him. He told police that when he saw Nelson standing in the hallway, he thought he was about to be attacked and fired his gun. Authorities say Nelson was not armed and that the two men had not spoken before the shooting.
Police records cited in court filings note that Nosacek has a history of psychosis, depression and previous domestic violence cases.
The case has raised wider questions in the United States about how untreated mental illness, racial fear and access to firearms can intersect with deadly consequences.
Friends and relatives described Nelson as “funny” and a “people person.” His close friend, D’Juan Hill, said, “It was someone’s own personal mental stability that took my friend from me. I want the world to know about Angelo Nelson.”
An online fundraiser has collected more than $6,000 to support funeral expenses.
Nosacek remains in custody with bail set at $251,000. He is also facing a separate bail-jumping charge from an earlier case.