Social Issues

Three shootings, one mass shooting in Milwaukee following Bucks game

Twenty-one people were injured in a series of shootings around the Deer District following a Milwaukee Bucks playoff game on May 13 — the city subsequently set a curfew for people under the age of 21 for the rest of the weekend, and police announced they had taken at least 10 people into custody.

By Frederica Freyberg

May 14, 2022 • Southeast Region

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Cavalier Johnson stands behind a podium mounted with multiple news microphones, with police officers and other individuals standing on each side, with an intersection and buildings in the background.

Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson speaks at a May 14 press conference following multiple shootings the previous night around the Deer District. (Credit: Courtesy of WISC-TV)


A series of shootings, including a mass shooting, injured 21 people on the night of Friday, May 13 in downtown Milwaukee following a Bucks game. Officials said the victims are expected to survive.

Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson announced an emergency 11 p.m. curfew during a May 14 media briefing. The curfew applies to people under 21 in the downtown entertainment area starting that night and ending on the morning of Monday, May 16 with additional police present.

“What happened here will not be tolerated,” Johnson said.

At least three separate shootings occurred in the Deer District outside of the Fiserv Forum where some 11,000 people gathered to watch the Milwaukee Bucks play in the NBA Eastern Conference semifinal playoff game, the sixth of the series.

The first shooting injured three people on N. Martin Luther King Jr. Dr. Another shooting injured another person less than an hour and a half later on N. Water St. A third shooting occurred 40 minutes after the second shooting, injuring 17 people on N. Water St. when gunfire broke out between groups, according to Milwaukee Assistant Chief of Police Nicole Waldner.

Police took at least 10 people into custody in connection with the shootings and recovered 10 firearms, Waldner said.

“District 1 officers reported hearing bullets whizzing past their heads as they were there,” Waldner said.

“To be clear, and let me be very clear, I fully expect that when people cause death, harm, and destruction in Milwaukee that they should be held fully accountable under the law,” Johnson said.

Wisconsin lawmakers reacted following the tragedy.

“Kathy and I are heartbroken by last night’s horrific acts of gun violence in Milwaukee,” Gov. Tony Evers tweeted. “We are thinking of all the people who were injured and are praying for their full recovery, and we are thinking of the many people affected by this senseless tragedy.”

“My heart hurts to hear of another instance of gun violence in our community. How much more are our residents supposed to take? Enough is enough,” U.S. Rep. Gwen Moore, D-Milwaukee, said in a statement.


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