At least 10 people were injured during a shooting early Sunday morning at a rooftop party at a high-rise apartment building in downtown Madison, near the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus.
“It is truly a miracle that no one is dead,” Madison Police Chief Shon Barnes said Sunday morning. “As a community, our hearts are hurting.”
Nine suffered gunshot wounds or grazes, and another was injured by broken glass, Barnes said. Five were transferred to local hospitals. Others arrived at hospitals overnight to seek medical attention.
None of the injuries are considered life-threatening. Victims ranged in age from 14 to 23, and some were high school students.
“These students should have been celebrating summer vacation, not receiving medical treatment,” Barnes said.
The University of Wisconsin-Madison said no students were among those injured and there is “no known university affiliation to the incident at this time.”
Madison police were initially called for a large rooftop party at the Lux, an apartment building on West Johnson Street, about two blocks away from State Street.
When police arrived, dispatchers told them shots had been fired. Police said dozens of people were screaming and running out of the building. Officers found some hiding in a maintenance closet “in an attempt to find safety,” Barnes said.
Police are working to determine whether the party was sanctioned or unsanctioned by the Lux’s management. Officers said several hundred people were on the rooftop.
No arrests have been made. Police said they don’t know a motive and don’t have information to share about potential suspects, but Barnes said they’re “probably going to be looking for more than one person” because shell casings indicated two weapons. MPD called the incident a “very active investigation” and will provide updates later Sunday.
Detectives with the Violent Crime Unit are talking with victims and witnesses and reviewing digital evidence. They’re asking anyone with video of the incident to contact the department. Anyone with information can also contact Madison Area Crime Stoppers at 608-266-6014 or online at p3tips.com.
Barnes thanked local hospitals for their preparedness and said their response was “seamless” in triaging and treating victims. He said police trained with the Madison Fire Department for this “exact type of incident” earlier this year, but “we didn’t expect to put it into practice so soon.”
The shooting is Madison’s second in 48 hours. A 27-year-old man was shot and killed on Williamson Street early Friday morning after an altercation at a bar.
“Prior to (this) weekend, we had seen a historic drop in shots fired calls,” Barnes said. “We, as a community, had just reported our fifth week with no reports of shots fired.”
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