Ten people have been arrested in connection with a pair of mass shootings that happened in Milwaukee after the Buck-Celtics game Friday evening.
According to police, 20 people were injured and nine firearms were recovered from the scene which is in downtown Milwaukee near an entertainment district where thousands of people had been watching the NBA’s Eastern Conference Semi-Finals.
Witnesses described the chaotic scene to local media,
“”Everybody started running. There was a stampede, people running over the shrubs, hats shoes on the ground, drinks spilled everywhere.”
None of the injuries from either shooting Friday night were believed to be life-threatening.
The first shooting, involving three victims, occurred adjacent to the Deer District — an entertainment district with numerous bars and restaurants where large crowds often assemble for major sporting events.
The Milwaukee Fire Department said authorities took two people to a hospital, a 30-year-old man and a 16-year-old girl, and a third person drove to a hospital. Police said a 29-year-old man was in custody.
Seventeen more people were injured in a second shooting about two hours later, which happened a few blocks away. Ten people were taken into custody and nine guns were recovered, according to police.
There was no immediate indication whether the two shootings were related or involved fans who were watching the game.
Witnesses told local media that they saw a fight outside a bar following the basketball game but it is unclear if the fights had anything to do with the shootings.
By 9 p.m. Friday night, Milwaukee police had already been called out to five separate shootings that left three people dead and two injured.
Milwaukee has seen a spike in violent crime and murders, one that has not been seen since 2015. According to officials data from the Milwaukee County Medial Examiners’ Office, 215 people were killed in 2020, there were 222 homicides in 2021 and so far in 2022, according to data from the Milwaukee Police Department, 45 people have been victims of homicide.
A number the Medical Examiner’s office says is already “tracking 29% higher than 2021, and 32% higher than 2020.” The drastic spike in murders have experts calling it “the other pandemic.”
Milwaukee is a democrat stronghold and has been under Democrat leadership for decades. The current mayor of Milwaukee is Cavalier Johnson who took office this year. Before him was Democrat Tom Barrett. The governor of Wisconsin is also a Democrat, Tony Evers
According to Wisconsin Politics Evers vetoed a bill that would have prevented cities from defunding the police.
Evers made the move, even though crime is so bad that one of his press conferences was interrupted by a drive by shooting. Police departments are also struggling to keep a work force and response times have increased by 36%
