Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett on Wednesday shrugged off suggestions that he acted heroically when he responded to a grandmother's cries for help and wound up taking a beating.

Instead, Barrett praised the actions of his 20-year-old niece, Molly Flood, who called 911 after Barrett's attacker had knocked the mayor's phone from his hand and smashed it on the street. The mayor appeared remarkably collected and fit, considering the seriousness of his injuries.

"Molly is my hero," Barrett said.

It was his first public appearance since the attack. He spoke at a news conference before an unusually large gathering of news media and well-wishers in front of his Washington Heights home on the city's west side.

The assault happened as Barrett, his sister Betsy Barrett Flood, Molly Flood and two of Barrett's daughters were walking to their car near State Fair Park in West Allis. Barrett responded to a woman's call for help by pulling out his cell phone to call 911, he said.

"I can't think of a situation like this where people would not have responded as I did," Barrett said.

"When someone says, 'Call 911,' you call 911," Barrett said. "It's that straightforward." What came next was unexpected and "bizarre," he said.

Barrett's vision was focused on the woman and her 1-year-old grandchild, and he was blindsided by his attacker, who ran at him from his right side, said Patrick Curley, Barrett's chief of staff.

The man smashed Barrett's cell phone, said he had a gun and would "shoot everyone," Curley said. Barrett then doubled over from punches to the stomach, but he refused to lie on the sidewalk, as ordered by the attacker, Curley said.

Instead, Barrett rose and took a punch at the man. That's apparently how the mayor suffered multiple fractures to his hand, said Curley. The man may have blocked Barrett's swing with a steel baton that the attacker also used to strike the mayor in the face and head, Curley said.

Barrett said he was staying home this week to rest and keep doctors' appointments. He had been slated to be on vacation.

Aside from the cast on his right hand and a visible scar on his cheek and lip, Barrett betrayed few visible signs of the trauma he suffered. He lost a few teeth, had cuts on his head and multiple fractures to his right hand. Barrett, who is right-handed, said that injury was likely his most serious.

Charges expected

A 20-year-old man, Anthony J. Peters, is being held in connection with the attack on the mayor. Prosecutors expect to charge Peters on Thursday, according to the Milwaukee County district attorney's office.

Peters was arrested Sunday by Milwaukee police and held in their custody until Tuesday, when he was booked into the Milwaukee County Jail, according to jail records.

He is being held in lieu of $25,000 bail on suspicion of first-degree reckless injury while armed, a felony, and on warrants issued this summer in connection with bail-jumping and disorderly conduct charges.

Peters' mother has described her son as "borderline psychotic" and off his medication during an interview with WTMJ-TV (Channel 4). Barrett said the woman's suggestion that the mayor had somehow provoked her son was "pretty bizarre."

The mayor didn't mention Peters by name.

As the attack progressed, Barrett said, he thought, "This is bad, this is really, really bad." He declined to delve much into specifics of what happened, saying he didn't want to compromise the criminal case.

Barrett explained that he didn't have security personnel when he attended the State Fair because family members decided to have an impromptu gathering, and his niece wanted to see a band playing there.

"This was a spur-of-the-moment decision to, in essence, have a family reunion with my siblings," Barrett said.

Barrett was greeted by applause from a couple of dozen neighbors when he emerged from his home Wednesday and again when he finished the news conference. He said he appreciated the many kind words and thoughts, including a get-well call from President Barack Obama.

"We are on the mend," Barrett told reporters. "I just wanted to let you know I was still standing."

Barrett did not say anything about whether he might run for governor next year, an opportunity that opened up with Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle's decision not to seek re-election. Curley told reporters before the news conference that Barrett wouldn't talk about it.

Barrett has been prominently mentioned as a possible Democratic candidate next year. He'll consider the possibility of running, Curley said.

Some of Barrett's neighbors said they thought he should run for governor, a post he unsuccessfully sought in 2002 when he lost a primary to Doyle.

"I think he is a hero," said neighbor Denise Edmund.

Journal Sentinel reporter Ryan Haggerty contributed to this report.