MILWAUKI – Bucks canceled a game to watch Game 7 on Sunday against the Boston Celtics after 21 people were injured in three separate shootings near an entertainment district in downtown Milwaukee at the end of the semifinal loss of Game 6 of the Eastern Conference on Friday night.
A spokesman for Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson said in a statement that the team had decided to cancel the event “after consulting with the city and public safety agencies”.
In a separate statement, Bucks said: “The shooting in downtown Milwaukee last night was appalling and we condemn this devastating violence,” adding that the party was canceled “to allow law enforcement to devote the necessary resources to the ongoing investigation into last night’s events. “The team noted that businesses in the Deer District will remain open.
The viewing party would probably attract more than 10,000 people. Bucks said 11,000 attended a Game 6 viewing party there, although more than 19,000 others attended the Fiserv Forum.
Three people were shot near the neighborhood in front of the Fiserv Forum towards the end of the match on Friday night, sending fans to flee the streets. One person was injured in a second shooting, before a third shooting less than a mile from the arena left 17 people with life-threatening injuries, police said.
A man and a 16-year-old girl who were injured in the first shooting were transported to a local hospital on Friday night while a third man was driving there, according to the Milwaukee Fire Department. All three are life-threatening.
Police said a 19-year-old man had been in custody since the first shooting and that charges were pending review by the Milwaukee District Attorney’s Office. No arrests were made in the second shooting, Assistant Police Chief Nicole Waldner said.
Ten people were detained and nine firearms were found in the third shooting, according to police, who described the incident as an exchange of shootings between two groups of people.
“What makes people think they might just have a shootout on a public street or in an entertainment district, whether there are police or not?” Waldner told a news conference.
Five of the wounded in the third shooting were armed and among the 10 people detained, Waldner said.
Johnson said the city has imposed a curfew in the city center, requiring everyone aged 20 or younger to be off the street by 11pm on Saturdays and Sundays. Additional police patrols are also planned.
“We can’t have that in this city, or anywhere else in this state, or anywhere else in this country,” Johnson said.
Milwaukee police have not said whether the shootings were linked and investigations are ongoing.
Bucks fans began gathering in the Deer District during the team’s run for the NBA Championship last season. With the chance to win the semifinals of the Eastern Conference against the Celtics and on a warm day after a long winter, Friday was the first opportunity for fans to continue the tradition. The team had placed metal detectors around the bars and the entrance to the stage outside the arena.
The first shooting took place outside this perimeter, about one block from the Fiserv Forum.
Witnesses in front of the arena said they heard shots just over a minute before the end of the fourth quarter of Boston’s 108-95 victory, which tied the 3-3 series, and those shots drove many in the crowd into a rage, running in several directions.
A large police presence remained outside the arena hours after the match, with officers filming several intersections nearby.
ESPN’s Jamal Collier and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
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