'Person of interest' in custody in Wisconsin bar shooting that left 3 dead
Police picked up a “person of interest” in a shooting that left at least three people dead overnight Sunday in Kenosha, Wisconsin, at a bar popular with local college students.
Police responded to Somers House Tavern just before 1 a.m. and found multiple gunshot victims, according to the Kenosha Police Department. Three people were declared dead and two others hospitalized with “serious injuries.”
On Sunday evening, the Kenosha County Sheriff’s Office said they had apprehended a suspect and that he would be charged with first-degree intentional homicide, with additional criminal charges likely after further investigation, The Associated Press reported. Police declined to release any other information about the suspect on Sunday.
“There is no threat to the community at this time,” Sgt. David Wright said in an updated statement, after earlier calling the shooting a “targeted and isolated incident.”
Victims’ identities had not been released, but police said that six shooting victims had been confirmed, with “at least one possible unknown shooting victim,” three of them dead and three injured and hospitalized. They were still being identified Sunday evening, including their names and ages.
Sheriff David Beth said at a news conference Sunday morning that officials have not ruled out the possibility of more than one gunman, but they later said just one “person of interest” appeared to be involved.
“I don’t know if the gunman was known to the victims, but I currently believe that the gunman knew who the victims were,” he said. “Whether the victims knew the gunman, I don’t know that.”
Beth also said that a suspect had been asked to leave the Somers House Tavern in Kenosha County but returned and opened fire, AP said.
Police said they had impounded several vehicles and that the investigation involved dozens of officials from seven law enforcement agencies and eight fire departments in a “complex investigation” involving “several crime scenes.”
Somers House Tavern is frequented by students from Carthage College, whose campus is less than half a mile down the road, according to Kenosha News.
A Facebook page for the bar advertises nightly events including beer pong and Karaoke, as well as Jolly Rancher shots and $1 Long Island iced teas.
