Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson declared, “today was a glorious day. We celebrated Juneteenth,” at a press conference providing details into the mass shooting that left six teenagers injured 21 minutes after the festivities formally ended. “Juneteenth was a safe event,” Johnson added.
Johnson stressed that the shooting incident did not happen during Juneteenth Day celebrations but occurred after the celebrations concluded. He said preachers, teachers, mentors, friends, and parents “need to step up. There is no reason a young person should have their hand on a gun of any kind.”
Milwaukee police said those injured are females ages 14, 16, 17, and 18 and males, ages 17 and 19. The Juneteenth festival ended at 4 p.m., and the mass shooting broke out at 4:21 p.m., according to Milwaukee Police Chief Jeffrey Norman.
A video captured the suspect wielding a handgun.
You can watch the video below.
The shooting at MLK and Chambers that injured six as Milwaukee's Juneteenth celebration was ending Monday was caught on camera. https://t.co/KBHgs8lHm1 pic.twitter.com/0IooZQ9mGN
— FOX6 News (@fox6now) June 20, 2023
Johnson called it “unacceptable” that the shooting occurred. He said what happened was “not right.” He called on parents and others to “do something positive to change the narrative.”
Johnson said there were families, kids, and babies celebrating during Juneteenth.
If someone is ill-tempered, and has a gun, “get the help that you need,” said Johnson. If people are going to fire a weapon off, then “do not come,” he added.
He said people don’t have the right to “steal the joy that this community felt today.” He said people don’t have the right to “endanger babies in this community” and put police officers in harm’s way.
He said arguments should “not lead to guns being fired off.”
Police Chief Jeffrey Norman said there is one 17-year-old suspect identified but more are being sought. He said the mass shooting victims did not suffer life-threatening wounds. The suspect was also among the wounded, Norman said.
The mass shooting happened at 4:21 p.m. on June 19, 2023, Norman said. He said the mass shooting occurred “after Juneteenth was done.”
Norman said a fight among females ignited the shooting. “Firearm violence is not the way to solve that,” he said.
