Appleton Police investigating shooting as a homicide

APPLETON, Wis. (WBAY) - Police now confirm they are investigating a shooting in Appleton as a homicide.

The shooting happened on Jan. 22 in the 1200 block of N. Briarcliff Drive. Police responded to a report of a man bleeding in the roadway, suffering from a gunshot wound.

The Outagamie County Coroner’s Office identified the victim as Paul A. Rhoads, 56, Appleton.

Jim Springborn lives in the area. He said he was at the site of the incident just minutes after it happened.

“It was an individual laying on the road. At first I thought it was a dog in the road but then I got out of the car and I could see it was a human being,” Springborn explained.

He told Action 2 News this is a first for a lot of people in the neighborhood.

“Generally we have very few problems. This is a relatively safe neighborhood. We’ve never seen anything like this happen in the past...” Springborn said. “We have some neighbors that were on the scene right away and are very upset about this situation. We don’t have it in our neighborhood. We don’t expect things like this to happen.”

An autopsy will be conducted by the Milwaukee County Medical Examiner’s Office.

Appleton Police say the investigation is ongoing, but they do not believe this was a random crime.

No arrests have been made.

If you have information, call police at 920-832-5500.

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