Chaotic Scene Erupts Outside NBA Arena as Playoff Game Ends, 20 Shot in Single Night
A watch party Sunday for Game 7 of an NBA playoff series has been canceled after a total of 20 people were shot in downtown Milwaukee on Friday night in two incidents, including one outside the arena where the Milwaukee Bucks and Boston Celtics were playing in an NBA playoff game.
The first shooting took place at about 9 p.m. not far from Fiserv Forum, where the Bucks lost to the Celtics in Game 6 of the series, according to CNN.
Milwaukee Police Capt. Warren Allen said a 16-year-old girl and two men, one 26 and one 29, were wounded in the shooting outside the arena, according to CNN.
A 19-year-old man was arrested. Charges against him are pending, Allen said.
Videos posted to Twitter showed fans stampeding away from the arena after the shots rang out.
With more than a minute left in the game, fans start sprinting out of Deer District. pic.twitter.com/WqKPGejrAw
— Natalie Shepherd (@NewsNatalie) May 14, 2022
Almost two hours after the first incident, gunfire again erupted downtown in a wild spree that left 17 people wounded.
Police said the victims, all of whom were expected to live, were between 15 and 47 years old. Five of them were armed and taken into custody.
After the second shooting, police arrested 10 people and confiscated 10 guns.
Police Assistant Chief Nicole Waldner said the shootings did not appear to be connected.
In response to the shootings, Mayor Cavalier Johnson announced a curfew for Saturday and Sunday nights beginning at 11 p.m. The curfew will apply to most people under 21. Violators face arrest and a $691 fine, according to police.
“To put it simply, if you intend to loiter, if you intend to act out, cut up, if you intend to do anything that is unlawful, then my message is simple: Don’t come here,” Johnson said Saturday, according to CNN. “Don’t come down here, don’t mess it up for everybody else.”
Johnson addressed the victims of the shootings on Friday night.
“To those who were injured last night, I am hoping for a prompt and speedy recovery,” he said. “You came down to enjoy yourself, to have a good time in our city, and people should be able to do that downtown or anywhere else in Milwaukee.”
I’m at the intersection of Water Street and Juneau Avenue in Milwaukee, where 17 people were shot last night.
Trash everywhere. Shattered glass and some apparent spatters of blood. pic.twitter.com/vbgJg7xfaE— Sophie Carson (@SCarson_News) May 14, 2022
Waldner said that in the second shooting, at least two people fired at one another “despite the incredible amount of police presence that was downtown.”
“I think it goes further than respect for law enforcement; I think it goes towards respect for human life,” Waldner said, according to CNN. “I mean, despite if police were there or not, what makes people think that they can just have a shootout on a public street in our entertainment district?”
BREAKING: 1 adult male shot near MLK & Highland as @Bucks game ends. This is what we saw as fans ran from the area. @WISN12News pic.twitter.com/JE6Ax1OPsn
— Joyce Garbaciak WISN (@JoyceGarbaciak) May 14, 2022
The Bucks canceled the watch party that was scheduled for Sunday’s game, which is set to tip off at 3:30 p.m. at Boston’s TD Garden arena.
“The shootings that happened in downtown Milwaukee last night were horrific and we condemn this devastating violence,” the team said in a statement, according to CNN. “We are grateful to local law enforcement for its valiant efforts to try to contain what was a dangerous and fluid situation.”
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