first of all I'd like to say that we do feel compassion for the family of Mr Burton we know how hard it's been for our families and during this whole incident and uh we appreciate that they feel remorse for myself Brian and our family but today has been a solid step forward for myself my wife our family and the citizens of this community a violent offender has been convicted thanks to the efforts of a police department that is dedicated to the citizens of this community and a fire department that is both highly trained and skilled when faced with an emergency the actions of the police and fire departments may have been highlighted because of our shooting but this is only a mere glimpse of the care and skill that these men and women use every day when serving our community we should never forget that we as officers and firefighters can train for a variety of situations but without the help of the many citizens that stepped forward who refused to be victims on June 9th the offender may never have have been taken into custody the citizens that stopped to help and observed the the offender flee and were able to give police Vital Information have demonstrated the resolve needed to keep our neighborhood safe my family and I are very grateful for the support that has been shown throughout this community it means a great deal not only to Brian and myself but to the ENT entire police department that the community rallied together to raise money for the tmpd fund these monies are now in place so that God forbid this were to happen to another officer and their family there are funds to help support those families through the crisis I would personally like to thank the many members of the Milwaukee Police Department and the Milwaukee Fire Department who have been there to support both me Brian and our families through our recovery process I would also like to thank the Milwaukee Fire Department paramedics who responded to our shooting and provided Brian and myself with the highest standard in emergency medical care Brian and I are both grateful for the surgical care that we receed received after being admitted to the hospital personally I can say that I was cared for by the highest caliber of surgeons and medical staff at frer hospital I've been able to recover Beyond and at a speed that I am not sure anyone thought was possible lastly I want to say that Brian and I wish to show our resolve in the face of what has happened and return to work so that we may continue to serve our community thank you I think this is also an opportunity for me to uh to first and foremost uh salute officers kunish and Norberg for their heroism their courage particularly their courage in the face of the adversity that has haunted them since the days of last June second I want to uh express my gratitude to judge MC man for what is a truly a just sentence as now the as salent will suffer a life sentence just as I our two victim officers shall third I want to commend the members of the Milwaukee Police Department who are a part of this search and this investigation their professional comportment guaranteed an apprehension and an appropriate sentence and finally I want to express my appreciation to district attorney Chisum and his office for presenting such a strong case that resulted in such a significant finding I think today's events certainly demonstrate for all of us the reality that u in police work there's no such thing as a routine stop there's no such thing as routine Patrol on June 9th two of our officers doing their Duty were suddenly deliberately in an unprovoked and brutal manner attacked and will suffer the consequences of that attack the rest of their lives it took three ingredients to occur in order for this assault to take place first we needed a willing criminal willing to use deadly violence to prevent his being questioned second we needed a gun bought by a straw purchaser and third we needed a gun store who would help that straw purchaser fill out the paperwork so he could successfully by the gun for the man standing next to him who today we saw in handcuffs those three ingredients resulted in a lifetime's worth of tragedy for two officers who only wanted to do one thing and that's protect us I know district attorney and the district attorney and I are both working to try to create more effective laws to prevent other victimizations that are achieved through the purchase of highquality handguns at the beest of a straw purchaser and that might better regulate stores willing and able to sell firearms to criminals who will use use them feloniously also want to take a moment to update you on the current status of some of our other officers Officer cologne as you recall was shot just two weeks before these two officers were gunned down he is still recuperating at home he still has a gun a bullet in him and his asent is still working his way through the system officer Jackowski who was shot in September has returned to duty he'll have a hole in him the rest of his life and the same unfortunate memories that all my officers have from one of these incidents will haunt him the rest of his life but mercifully he's back to duty his ENT is still working his way through the system and finally as you recall the other two officers that were also shot in the last uh year and a half before this incident officers AR and Gonzalez um so I just once again summarize I thank the judge for an appropriate sentence and the district attorney for a strong and successful prosecution Mr da thank you Chief this does bring a conclusion to the court proceedings but we also know that uh this type of activity takes place every single day that the men and women of the Milwaukee Police Department confront these challenges there is no such thing as a routine encounter with an armed Defender we cannot downplay understate the role that Mr Collins played in this tragedy either uh this is the individual that decided to purchase a gun and it's a warning to everybody he's currently sitting in the federal prison system uh if we could get the message across to everybody uh that you can't control what happens to the gun after you've bought it and and we're going to continue our focus our determination to remove crime guns from the streets of Milwaukee to vigorously prosecute those individuals that decide that they're going to engage in firearm related criminal activity uh we're going to continue that pressure we're going to continue working extremely hard uh we are grateful for the progress of the victims but we're also mindful that that this is going to last with the victims for their entire lives as well as for their families they now join the ranks quite frankly of thousands of others of citizens in Moi who have suffered the same kind of violence it's unacceptable we will not accept it but speaking of the other members of the community uh let's also be grateful for the the spirit that's been shown by this community and getting Behind These police officers during this tragedy I think uh I think uh the community understands the risk that you take they appreciate it and they're going to stand by you and continue backing you when you're dealing with these kinds of dangers