17 injured in Milwaukee shooting
Violence breaks out near arena downtown after NBA game
MILWAUKEE — At least 17 people were wounded in a shooting in downtown Milwaukee on Friday night, blocks from the arena where an NBA playoff game ended hours earlier, police said.
The Milwaukee Police Department said there were no fatalities in the shooting, which happened about 11:09 p.m. in a popular nightlife area. The victims were between 15 and 47 years old and were all expected to survive, police said.
Ten people were in custody in connection with the shooting, including five who were armed and were wounded. Police also said they recovered 10 guns from the scene, which was near the arena, the Fiserv Forum. Police said the investigation was continuing and that they were still looking for others who might have been involved in the gunfire. What led up to the shooting was unknown.
The mayor of Milwaukee, Cavalier Johnson, issued a limited emergency order Saturday afternoon that imposed a curfew in the vicinity around the shooting for people younger than 21 from 11 p.m. Saturday until 5:30 a.m. today, and the same times tonight.
At least 11,000 people had gathered outside the arena at a watch party in an area known as the Deer District to watch the Milwaukee Bucks play the Boston Celtics in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference semifinals.
The next game in the series is today in Boston. Another watch party that also has the capacity for 11,000 people scheduled in the Deer District in Milwaukee was canceled Saturday, according to the Deer District website.
There were two additional shootings in the area within about a two-hour period earlier Friday night. A little after 9 p.m., three people were wounded in a shooting in a nightlife area adjacent to the Deer District that was packed with taverns. The victims were two men, ages 26 and 29, and a 16-year-old female. They were all expected to survive, police said. A 19-year-old man was in custody in connection with that shooting, police said.
Another shooting, on the same block as the one that resulted in the 17 wounded people, occurred at around 10:30 p.m. One person was wounded, and no one was in custody. Police said they did not believe the three shootings were connected. Gov. Tony Evers said on Twitter that he was heartbroken by the night’s violence. “We are thinking of all the people who were injured and are praying for their full recovery, and we are thinking of the many people affected by this senseless tragedy,” he said.
In Wisconsin, the rate of gun deaths has increased 59% over the period of 2011 to 2020, compared with a 33% increase nationwide, according to the national gun control group Everytown for Gun Safety.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Tuesday that gun-related homicides surged by 35% in 2020, with gun deaths reaching the highest number ever recorded in the United States. Only one other mass shooting in 2022 has left more people wounded: a shooting at a festival in Dumas, Ark., that left one person dead and 26 others wounded.