A 29-year-old man was taken into custody following a shooting outside of Fiserv Forum Friday, where the Milwaukee Bucks and Boston Celtics were facing off in game 6 of their series.
ESPN reports that a 30-year-old man and a 16-year-old girl were transported to a local hospital after getting shot and that a third victim drove themself to the hospital, per the Milwaukee Fire Department.
“The incident took place outside of the Deer District area,” Bucks chief communications officer Barry Baum told ESPN. “We direct all questions to the Milwaukee Police Department.”
While the three had non-life-threatening injuries, another shooting took place two hours later within a mile of the arena, where 17 people with left with non-life-threatening injuries. Nine guns were recovered and 10 people were taken into custody, per police. It remains unclear if the shootings were connected.
Witnesses outside of Deer District said they heard the first gunshots with a minute remaining in the game, causing chaos in the crowd of spectators. Police ended up taping off several intersections nearby, and video footage from the night shows the frenzy, as fans darted down the street to safety. Roughly 11,000 people were gathered in the Deer District area to view the game.
According to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, victims of the the second shooting were between the ages of 15 and 47 and police say they are all expected to survive. That second shooting occurred around 11 p.m. Friday, on North Water Street.
In a statement issued Saturday, the Bucks have canceled Sunday’s Game 7 watch party at Fiserv Forum.
The shootings that happened in downtown Milwaukee last night were horrific and we condemn this devastating violence. We are grateful to local law enforcement for its valiant efforts to try to contain what was a dangerous and fluid situation. While these incidents took place outside of Deer District property, it clearly resonated with fans coming out of the arena and leaving the plaza. Security, health and welfare are always our top priorities for our guests and employees and we appreciate the hard work of our security team to keep our fans safe.
