In the wake of recent events, the Milwaukee Bucks have chosen to cancel the watch party slated for Sunday in downtown Milwaukee for game seven versus the Boston Celtics for the NBA playoffs because of a recent outbreak of shootings in the city on Friday that left quite a few injured. Additionally, The mayor of Milwaukee has forcibly imposed a curfew of 11:00 pm for those parts of the city.
This past Friday evening, the Celtics took the win over the Bucks in Milwaukee to send the series to a game seven, Throughout that game, the Bucks hosted a watch party for almost 11,000 fans in an area colloquially known as the Deer District, an outside area centered near the stadium in the downtown area. During the event, a series of shootings broke out that made the crowd disperse rapidly directly after the game. To assist local police forces, the Bucks have stated that the watch party for game seven is not taking place.
“In order to allow law enforcement to devote needed resources to the continued investigation of last night’s events, we have decided to cancel tomorrow’s planned watch party on the plaza. Deer District businesses will remain open as usual,” stated an official for the Bucks in a release. “We continue to work with Milwaukee Police Department and other public safety partners to provide a safe and welcoming environment for our fans. We plan to have further details soon.”
One of the shooting incidents left three hurt, directly outside of Fiserv Forum, the team’s home stadium. There were two additional shootings that took place on nearby streets.
“Police have 11 suspects in custody, and all victims are expected to survive. Mayor Cavalier Johnson imposed a curfew for parts of downtown both Saturday and Sunday, going into effect at 11 p.m.,” stated a report from USA Today.
One parking lot attendant near Fiserv Forum, Bil Reinemann, stated to Fox 6 that he agreed with the choice to cancel the remaining watch party.
“It pains me to see people suffering as a result of other people’s stupidity, basically,” stated Reinemann in an interview with a local media outlet. “Actually kind of glad that at least the idea has been tabled for right now.”
Reinemann also stated that he saw hundreds of people stampeding out of the area after the shots took place on Friday.
“Multiple people came and leaned on one of the fencing panels and collapsed it and probably about two- or three-hundred people rushed in,” stated Reinemann.
Jamie Kennedy was out at a local Milwaukee bar that Friday evening and stated that the whole ordeal was “pretty scary.”
“I’m sure there’s a lot of disappointed fans it isn’t happening, but at the same point I understand from a safety standpoint,” stated Kennedy in reference to the canceled watch party.
In just over 12 hours on Friday, police forces in Milwaukee were forced to respond to shootings that left 25 injured and three dead.