At least 21 people were shot and injured in three separate shootings in Milwaukee’s downtown bar district after the Milwaukee Bucks playoff gamewhich drew thousands of people to the Deer District.
One of the shootings, which occurred shortly after 11 pm, left 17 people injured.
The victims ranged in age from 15 to 47, and all are expected to survive, Milwaukee police said. Ten people were arrested and nine guns were recovered, according to a brief news release from Milwaukee police sent early Saturday.
Authorities have not released further information about the victims, the ages of the suspects and what they believe led up to the shooting.
The mass shooting occurred shortly after 11 pm Friday on North Water Street near Highland Avenue — just two hours after and blocks away from an earlier shooting that wounded three people, including a 16-year-old girl.
In that shooting, police arrested a 19-year-old man and said two other men, ages 29 and 26, were wounded near the corner of North Martin Luther King Drive and Highland Avenue.
The gunshots sent hundreds of fans running through the Deer District, where 11,000 people had gathered to watch Game 6 of the Eastern Conference semifinal playoff series between the Bucks and Boston Celtics.
Soon after that shooting, at about 10:30 pm, a 20-year-old man was shot and injured on North Water Street near West Highland Avenue. It was not clear early Saturday if the man’s shooting was connected to the mass shooting that later happened in the same location.
The Deer District has drawn thousands of people downtown in the last year to cheer on the Bucks. The area has been seen by many as a unifying space in a city with a reputation for segregated spaces.
On Friday night after the game, the streets were packed with people on what felt like the first night of summer in the city.
Thousands of people flooded out of Fiserv Forum and the Deer District and surrounding bars, with the large crowds swelling into the streets in what was almost a festival-like atmosphere — complete with music blasting, clouds of smoke and people stopping traffic for impromptu dance parties .
Then gunfire sent people running. A Journal Sentinel reporter who left the arena about 11:30 pm heard sirens in all directions from dozens police squads and ambulances and saw drivers running red lights, speeding, swerving, yelling at pedestrians and at least one driver going the wrong way on a street.
The violence hit an entertainment district that has been battered by two years of the pandemic and other high-profile incidents of gun violence, including two homicides earlier this year.
last month, Shannon Freeman, a 30-year-old father and beloved chef, was shot and killed at The Loaded Slate bar. Prosecutors say a 24-year-old man shot him 11 times and continued to do so even after he fell to the ground, after what appeared to be minimal interaction between the two inside the bar.
In February, Krystal N Tucker, 31, was killed and two others injured in a shooting at the popular Brownstone Social Lounge, where Tucker worked. Authorities say the shooter had been denied access to the bar because of its age restrictions, and after being escorted away, drew a gun and opened fire.
‘Everybody has a gun’: Alderman draws link to last summer’s violence
last-summer, violence in the Water Street area — including reckless driving, fighting and shootings — drew widespread attention and pledges from public officials to make sure the district was safe.
Police vowed to maintain a “constant presence” in the area on weekend nights and nights of Bucks home games. At the time, one bar owner told elected officials “lawlessness that has taken over our street is nothing short of shocking and terrifying.”
In an interview Saturday morning, Milwaukee Ald. Robert Bauman, who represents much of downtown, said he has been hearing from condominium associations over the last month or two about their concerns over last summer’s violence downtown.
“I told them very frankly, based on current conditions, I don’t know why last summer’s violence wouldn’t reoccur,” Bauman said. “I mean, you have the same dynamics.”
“The police had told me last year and I suspect it’s true again — everybody has a gun,” he added. “They’re outgunned, by far.”
He also raised concerned about the “tailgating” downtown, which he described as “non-bar patrons who just sit in or around their vehicles — drink, smoke, and play music — and they’re armed.”
“With all that going on again, there’s no reason this would not happen. Because all the same conditions exist for it to happen — guns, lawless behavior, warm weather with the magnetic effect of a Bucks game,” Bauman said. “You almost have to pray for cold and rain.”
The alderman said he had been told police planned to staff up and have a large presence downtown, but Bauman is calling for discussions about security perimeters around entertainment districts, weapons checks, and removing street parking in the area.
“They’re going to have to look at removing all the street parking for blocks away to prevent the tailgating from taking place,” he said.
Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson, Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley and Council President José G. Pérez could not immediately be reached for interviews Saturday morning. Johnson is expected to speak with reporters later Saturday.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
Anyone with any information about the shootings is asked to contact Milwaukee Police at (414) 935-7360 or to remain anonymous, contact Crime Stoppers at (414) 224-Tips or P3 Tips App.
Contact Ashley Luthern at ashley.luthern@jrn.com. Follow her on Twitter at @aluthern.