MILWAUKEE — At least 21 people were shot Friday night in downtown Milwaukee within blocks of Deer District, where more than 11,000 people gathered to watch Game 6 of the Bucks/Celtics series.
The three separate shootings happened while people were celebrating the Milwaukee Bucks, a team that has helped transform a big chunk of downtown.
There was a moment of silence held before Game 7 in Boston on Sunday for all the shooting victims.
Milwaukee Bucks President Peter Feigin sat down with TMJ4's Steve Chamraz to discuss the violence that overtook the streets near Fiserv Forum.
"It is very important not to be a catalyst for panic," Feigin said. "Very, very quickly we realized that in this case, outside the district on Third Street, that the shooter was contained. It was not a threat to the immediate audience of the Deer District or to the arena. That being said, there was still panic."
Though the team does not control the streets surrounding the Bucks celebrations, people still gather nearby to support the team. Chamraz asked Feigin how much responsibility there is for the organization.
"We think there is totally responsibility," Feigin said. "When you employ thousands of people, and people need to come to work and not be scared and to feel safe, that's an important foundation. I think when you're inviting and hosting fans/guests, they have to feel the same way. There's an ultimate amount of responsibility to create a safe environment."
Chamraz asked Feigin what he thinks Deer District will look like next spring.
"I think way before next May or June you're going to look at the summer and we're going to have events, you're going to find a very secure and safe place," he said. "We're going to be working hand in hand with law enforcement to really try and figure out crowd numbers... We will continue to really create a safe environment that you can imagine to encourage people to come down and continue to make the Deer District a meeting place."
Feigin says you can also expect the Bucks to work with Milwaukee police to control more of the surrounding streets during big events.
