At least six teenagers were shot Monday afternoon where Milwaukee’s Juneteenth celebration had just ended, according to police and fire officials.
According to witnesses and a Facebook Live video taken by a bystander shortly after the shooting, shots were fired outside the Greater Philadelphia Church of God in Christ at 4:20 p.m.
Milwaukee Police Chief Jeffrey Norman said six teenagers were shot, including a 17-year-old boy, who may have been the gunman himself and is now in custody.
Norman said the shooting may have stemmed from an altercation between several girls and a young woman, but he did not know what sparked the dispute.
This comes after a weekend in which numerous shootings and deaths were reported across the country. In nearby Chicago, at least eight people were killed in separate shootings over the weekend.
Milwaukee’s Juneteenth celebration just ended after at least six teenagers were shot Monday afternoon, according to police and fire officials.
Milwaukee officials said four girls and two boys, ages 14 to 19, were among the dead. Police were still looking for additional suspects who they said have yet to be identified.
Those injured in the shooting near North King Drive near Locust Street had various injuries but did not appear to be life-threatening, the chief said.
‘Milwaukee, what’s happening to our kids?’ Norman wondered aloud at a press conference.
Norman noted that he had participated in the town’s Juneteenth celebrations for eight years without previous bloodshed.
“Parents, guardians, elders, we need to be involved to make sure that the violence that our children are bringing to the streets stops. No handguns, no weapons of mass destruction should be in the hands of our youth.’
‘It’s a story that goes on too often and it’s getting really old. Really old,’ said Norman.
Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson insisted that Monday’s Juneteenth observance was itself a safe and escalating event, calling the subsequent violence ‘totally, totally unacceptable’.
Milwaukee Mayor Cavaliere Johnson speaks at a news conference outside the Milwaukee Police Department
Milwaukee police investigate a shooting along North King Drive near Locust Street, Monday, June 19, 2023, in Milwaukee.
‘We have thousands of people here celebrating and bringing themselves together and having a sense of community. It is a powerful thing. That’s the true story of what this day is about,’ said Johnson, a Democrat.
A person who t. Jenkins, who identified himself as Jenkins, told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that the two women got into an argument before the shooting.
A young man pulled out a gun and everyone scattered, Jenkins said. He said the man fired several shots.
Jenkins helped a young woman with a neck wound.
‘I pressed his neck,’ she said. ‘I tried to keep everyone around me calm.’
A Facebook Live video taken shortly after the shooting showed at least two young men with gunshot wounds being treated on the sidewalk by paramedics.
The Facebook user tried to comfort her crying friend, who was trying to contact her mother.
Milwaukee Police Chief Jeffrey Norman said six teenagers were shot. Norman said the shooting may have stemmed from a fight between several girls and a young woman, but he did not know what sparked the dispute.
It comes after a weekend of gun violence across the country, including eight people killed near Chicago.
During a peaceful day of Juneteenth events in Milwaukee, vendors sold food and items as community organizations provided resources, snacks and free gifts.
Music played from booths and food trucks offering refreshing treats in the heat drew long lines.
Youth dance groups, marching bands and drill teams entertain crowds in a parade along King Drive earlier in the day. Police are deployed at various places on the road.
Keith Caldwell, another vendor, described the scene: ‘I just heard commotion, gunshots, people screaming.’
On the subject of safety at the event, Caldwell spoke of the need for gun control.
‘Right now, it’s like an uncontrollable situation,’ he said.
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