MILWAUKEE ?
Milwaukee police have released a timeline of events that led to members of the community setting a home on fire.
The fire was in response to a perceived lack of action by officers in the search for two missing teenage girls.
Police said the two were last seen Sunday in the 2900 block of North 21st Street.
Investigators said they were called Monday to a home in the 2100 block of North 40th Street to check for the missing girls.
"The officers searched the residence multiple times; however, the teenagers were not located at the location," police said in a release.
At 10 a.m. Tuesday, officers said they responded to a "trouble with subject" call at the same location.
Police said people tried to break into a home to conduct their own search for the missing girls.
Officers said they searched the home again and did not find the teens.
About an hour later, officers responded again after a report of shots fired in the area.
"Upon arrival, officers discovered that shots were exchanged between the residents of the home and the group of individuals who were attempting to enter the residence," police said in their release.
Police said the crowd at the scene began to grow and people threw bricks and pieces of concrete at officers.
Two officers were injured.
Investigators said before more officers could arrive at the scene, members of the crowd set a couch, a van and the home on fire.
Firefighters had to wait for officers to escort them to the scene before they could begin putting the fire out.
The home burned out of control for more than 20 minutes.
One firefighter suffered a non-life-threatening injury.
Police then said shots were fired in the crowd and three people were hit.
They all suffered non-life-threatening injuries.
Investigators said eight additional officers suffered injuries in the unrest.
Later Tuesday evening, the crowd returned and reignited the house fire.
Police said three more officers were injured after being hit with bricks.
The missing teens were found and are safely with their families.
The cousins returned home and were uninjured.
Family members said they were with some boys.
"At no point did the missing teenagers qualify under the state guidelines for an Amber Alert," police said in their release.
Investigators said the girls denied going to or being at the home that burned and said they did not meet or know anyone there.
Family members blamed social media rumors for causing the chaos.
"There is also no evidence to substantiate that human trafficking occurred at that location," police said.
Officers said there was no evidence the girls were ever at the home or that there was any foul play there.
Neighbors said they believed the girls were trafficked for sex.
Pat Bills said his grandmother lived in the home.
"She's a loving lady. She had three strokes. She's fighting for the last little life she got left. I'm surprised this here didn't set her off," he said. "After they get the right information, for them to come back and still burn down the house, terrorism stuff, that's wrong. And then, y'all gonna use that to make a move and talk about some empowerment? Y'all are being empowering? You're not empowering at all. Y'all are terrorists."
The owners and landlord of the house said they do ministry work in the inner city after working as missionaries overseas.
"I was in tears. When we moved back to Milwaukee, we did all we could to help build up this whole community. And so, yes, (it's) devastating," Anna Bartsch said.
Police said they were seeking several suspects who are wanted in connection to the arson and the suspects who shot the three victims.
Investigators said there were two other calls for service to the home earlier this year.
They were not related to prostitution, sex trafficking or human trafficking, police said.
Officers said they were searching for a man wanted in connection with a recklessly endangering safety incident.
He was described as an African American man between the ages of 18 and 25.
The man was also described as being between 5 feet 8 inches and 5 feet 10 inches tall and weighing between 150-160 pounds.
He has a thin build and short black hair.
The man was last seen wearing a blue/purple/white T-shirt, black pants and white shoes.
Police said he was armed with handgun.
Officers said they were also looking for two other arson suspects.
One man was described as an African American man between 25 and 30 years old with a thin build, light complexion and beard.
He was last seen wearing a black T-shirt, black hooded jacket, dark pants and black sandals with black socks.
The second man was described as an African American man between 16 and 19 years old.
He was described as being between 5 feet 9 and 5 feet 11 inches tall and weighing about 240 pounds.
The man was last seen wearing a blue T-shirt and blue jeans.
So far, no arrests have been made.
No other details have been released.
Anyone with information on the unrest was asked to call police at 414-935-7360.