STURTEVANT - The quiet and well kept homes on Kennedy Drive gave no indication Thursday morning of the violence that took place there just hours earlier.

Gunfire, that will mostly likely take the life of a 21-year-old Racine man and wounded another, erupted in the village late Wednesday night.

Carl T. Mitchell was in critical condition at Froedtert Memorial Hospital in Wauwatosa as of late Thursday night.

Sturtevant Police Chief Sean Marschke said Mitchell is on life support. "This is going to be a homicide," he said.

Mitchell's family is out of state and was not expected to arrive here until Friday.

Another man was also seriously injured in the shooting, which occurred in the yard of a home at 3416 Kennedy Drive.

Ryan R. McMorris, 18, of Racine was shot in the chest. Police said he is at Wheaton Franciscan-All Saints hospital, 3801 Spring St., where he underwent surgery late Wednesday night.

Both Mitchell and McMorris were actively involved in the shooting, according to Marschke. However the details of exactly what happened are still under investigation.

Marschke said the men, who both live on Villa Street, went to the Sturtevant home late Wednesday. The resident of the house told police she did not know them. "We're still trying to figure out why they were at a residence in the village," Marschke said.

Police were called to the home shortly after 10 p.m. for a report of shots fired. When they arrived they found Mitchell suffering from a gunshot wound to the head. He was initially transported by South Shore Fire and Rescue to Wheaton Franciscan, and later taken by Flight For Life to Froedtert.

Officers were then called to Wheaton Franciscan, where McMorris was taken and dropped off by unknown parties, Marschke said.

The shooting happened in the backyard of the Kennedy Drive house. Mount Pleasant police assisted Sturtevant officers.

Police recovered a .40-caliber semiautomatic handgun from the scene and multiple shell casings. "There were rounds all over the place," Marschke said.

Later Thursday, the car thought to be the vehicle used to transport McMorris to the hospital was also recovered.

At this time the shooting appears to be gang related, according to Marschke. Both the Racine Police Department and the Greater Racine Gang Task Force are assisting Sturtevant in the investigation. Marschke said the task force was already aware of Mitchell and McMorris prior to the shooting.

This is the second time McMorris has been shot in less than a year. On July 13, he was shot in the buttocks after arriving at a graduation party in the 4900 block of Emstan Hills Road. Larry Ellison Jr., 18, has been charged with attempted first-degree intentional homicide and first-degree reckless endangerment of safety in that shooting.

The Wednesday night shooting may become Sturtevant's first homicide in recent history. Village Board President Steve Jansen said Thursday that he's lived in Sturtevant his entire 49 years and has never heard of another incident like it.

"I used to live on Kensington (Square Road), which is one block over," he said. "You always expect to see it other places."

Jansen said the neighborhood is stable and a place where people feel safe. "We're able to be out at night," he said. "The kids play ball at the park. A lot of these people have lived here a long, long time."

Jansen said he was surprised and angered over the shooting.

"To say that I've had a range of emotions today is an understatement," he said. "Unfortunately there seems to be some elements out there that think they can come here and do what they want. We need to put an unwelcome sign out. We're not immune to the things that go on in society. At the same time, this crosses the line in my mind.

"When are people going to get the message that this stuff has got to stop?" he said.

Jansen urged village residents to help police by calling each and every time they see something that doesn't seem right or looks suspicious. "Err on the side of caution," he said. "Call the cops. We don't need more of this out here."

Anyone with information on the shooting is asked to call the Sturtevant Police Department at (262) 886-7208 or anonymous tips can be called in to Crime Stoppers at (262) 636-9330.