Community laments shooting that injured six after joyful Juneteenth festival

A day after gunfire opened on a still-busy street minutes after the Juneteenth festival ended, residents, business owners and politicians lamented that the joyful event had been replaced by the city's fourth mass shooting of the year.

Police on Tuesday said they arrested two suspected shooters, a 17-year-old boy and a 19-year-old man, who were both struck by gunfire. Four girls, ages 14 to 18, were also struck. All are expected to survive, police said.

Police are recommending charges to prosecutors; the two suspects could be charged in the coming days.

The annual festival along North King Drive is one of the country's longest-running celebrations of Juneteenth, which commemorates the end of slavery in the U.S. and became a federal holiday in 2021. Tens of thousands of people, including many families with young children, turned out to watch the parade, buy food and wares from vendors and enjoy the sunny weather.

Those who attended said the crowds were the biggest in years thanks to increased awareness since it became a federal holiday and more relaxed attitudes about gathering after the pandemic.

But just 20 minutes after the festival officially ended, a fight between teenage girls was followed by the shooting on King Drive near Locust Street, according to police.

Some leaders such as Mayor Cavalier Johnson and Police Chief Jeffrey Norman decried the violence in strong terms, urging more involvement from parents and community organizations to keep young people out of trouble.

And Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley has already publicly urged Congress to "pass common-sense gun laws that keep weapons out of the hands of irresponsible owners and others who are either a threat to themselves or their surrounding community," his spokesman Brandon Weathersby said.

Several local elected officials acknowledged the unfortunate nature of the incident, but wished to draw a distinction between the holiday celebration and the violence that followed shortly afterward.

“That wasn’t a Juneteenth incident, that was something that happened afterward, but the fact of the matter is, it happened,” said Ald. Lamont Westmoreland. “It was beautiful to see Black and brown people come together. It’s great to see white people down there, Asian, Mexican — it’s great to see different types of people from different cultures come down there.

“But stuff like this disappoints me because I think more (people) would want to come.”

Festival organizers, reached Tuesday by the Journal Sentinel, wouldn't answer questions and said they didn't have any comment.

Elected officials focus on success of the event

Several elected officials said they hoped that the actions of a few wouldn’t ruin the long-running festival for others.

"I’ve been going to Juneteenth since I’ve been born,” said Rep. Supreme Moore Omokunde, D-Milwaukee. “I was incredibly honored to be there, and I’m always incredibly honored to go there and to know that we have people that come from out of town.”

Ald. Milele Coggs called it “wonderful” event that, this year, had spaces and activities specifically for children and seniors. She said she wouldn’t be surprised if attendance neared 100,000 people.

Ald. Khalif Rainey said he suspected the younger people involved in the incident had a lack of understanding behind the holiday, which many are still learning about.

“I love Juneteenth. It’s probably my favorite holiday of the year,” he said. “I think what the younger people got to understand is this don’t belong to y'all. It belongs to so many other people."

Meanwhile, Norman and Johnson called on parents to make sure teens stay away from guns, and urged people not to resolve arguments with violence.

"Milwaukee, what's going on with our children?" Norman said in a news conference Monday evening. "This is a serious situation that we all need to take hold of."

Johnson characterized the shooters' actions as "stupidity."

"You don't have the right to endanger babies in this community ... because you want to go out there and act stupid with a gun," he said. "Arguments should not lead to guns being fired off, period."

Keeping youth involved in activities is key, leader says

Shanel Vrontez, the founder of a youth leadership organization called YLead LLC, attended the festival Monday, a yearly tradition.

"It was such a beautiful day of love, fellowship and embracing each other," she said. "It's unfortunate that a situation got so out of control that it took the light out of all of the good that was going on."

Now a high school principal, Vrontez previously worked with the violence interruption team 414LIFE. Despite all the police officers stationed at the festival, violence still broke out, Vrontez noted. In the future, more community organizations and faith groups should be present to engage with youth during the festival, not only police, she said.

Vrontez recalled her own childhood in the '70s and '80s in Milwaukee, when kids had more opportunities to get involved in summer camps, classes and activities.

"It's going to take everybody," Vrontez said. "Our violence teams can't mediate and mitigate all of this on their own."

Trauma of shooting touches community members

Trudy Kralj, who owns Bruno's Floral Shop on King Drive, was at work Monday when she heard the shots across the street.

“Safety in general is a big concern for this neighborhood,” she said.

Kralj's friends and children worry for her safety and want her to leave the area, she said.

Sybil McChristion, who stopped into the flower shop Tuesday, said she now makes a point to leave Juneteenth before the festival ends, wary of what could happen.

“I get my corn and turkey leg and leave,” she said.

McChristion has been going to the festival for years.

“It’s sad,” she said. “It took so long for it become a holiday and people don’t know how to act."

Lia Knox, a mental health counselor who specializes in therapy for people of color, was at the festival for hours Monday. She was heartened by the positive atmosphere — young people painting murals, dancing in the parade and helping their families sell wares at booths.

Since the shooting, family and friends have reached out to her upset that violence followed such an uplifting moment for the community. Some have told her they won't return to Juneteenth, that the shooting reinforces anxiety about being in crowds.

The communal trauma of such an event is only reiterated when people see a barrage of news articles and social media posts about it, Knox said.

Knox understands people's fears about returning to Juneteenth. But without "those who have a heart for Milwaukee" in attendance, there's a void, she said.

"If you don't show up, how will we continue to make this wonderful event as wonderful as it has been?" she's been telling people. "We have to show up, both us and our allies."

State officials speak out

The Juneteenth festival and parade drew many of the state's most prominent politicians. They spoke out following the shootings.

“Our hearts break tonight for the victims of gun violence at the Juneteenth festival,” Gov. Tony Evers wrote on Twitter. “We must do more to stop gun violence and keep our kids and communities safe."

U.S. Rep. Gwen Moore’s office told the Journal Sentinel that she was “concerned” that the suspected shooters were teenagers saying that “no teenager should have such easy access to guns or believe those weapons should be used to solve conflict.”

“It is heartbreaking after such a wonderful, vibrant celebration, there was a shooting in Milwaukee — a dreaded reminder of the country’s ongoing gun violence crisis,” Moore’s office said in a statement. “The frequency and unpredictability of gun violence can make people feel on edge and live in fear. Any joyous moment, like attending a parade or festival, could turn to grief and heartache.”

Mass shootings on the rise locally and nationally

There are differing definitions of mass shootings, but Monday’s incident was already the fourth time this year in which four or more people, not including the shooter, were injured or killed in the same shooting.

The previous three incidents — two in March and one in May — killed a 15-year-old and injured 14 people between the ages of 16 and 44.

Mass shootings have increased locally and nationally since 2020. Monday’s incident marks Milwaukee’s 26th mass shooting since 2020, when the city saw just five of them in the three years before 2020, according to the Gun Violence Archive.

Nationally, there were nearly 740 people shot in 139 mass shootings in the first three months of 2023, according to crime analyst Jeff Asher. That’s a 24% increase in victimization compared to the first three months of 2022 and a 90% increase compared to the first three months of 2020.

Easy access to guns a persistent problem

Local police, elected officials and others have consistently pointed toward the easy access to guns and the ease at which a handgun can be converted into an automatic firearm with an extended clip, increasing the chances of innocent bystanders caught in crossfire.

“Firearms are our number one issue in our city,” Norman, the police chief, said at a May gun violence summit hosted by Forward Latino in Milwaukee. “Don’t trust me. Look at the data.”

Gun sales in Wisconsin reached a historic high in 2020. That year, according to federal data, there was an 83% increase in guns recovered by police in Wisconsin within one year of purchase. In 2021, the number jumped another 31%.

About half of gun recoveries in Wisconsin happen in Milwaukee.

Police officials have said straw purchases and thefts of guns from cars and homes have contributed to their overall easy access. Reports of stolen firearms in the city nearly doubled from 2019 to 2022, according to police.

Data from the Medical College of Wisconsin shows the average number of bullet casings found at the scene of shootings has risen from around from 6.4 to 7.2 in the years prior to 2020 to 8.5 to 9.5 in the years since then.

Children are more often shooting victims

The increase in mass shootings is also coupled with the fact that more children are being victimized by gun violence.

From 2016 to 2019, no more than 10 children 17 and younger died by homicide in Milwaukee, but 20 or more have been killed in each of the three years since then, according to the Milwaukee Homicide Review Commission. This year, 11 children have died by homicide, according to police, and 50 have been injured in shootings as of June 12, according to the Homicide Review Commission.

According to researchers, many factors come into play with regard to youth violence. That includes access to guns, family influences, poverty, chronic and traumatic stress and academic achievement, among others.

Vanessa Swales of the Journal Sentinel contributed to this report.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Milwaukee Juneteenth festival shooting suspects arrested