A shooting that began at a Kenosha, Wis., tavern early Sunday morning left three people dead and three hospitalized with gunshot wounds, officials said.
Officials told the public Sunday morning that the shooter posed no additional threat to the community after the killings at the Somers House tavern, which occurred shortly after midnight. Later that afternoon, officials said the manhunt involved seven law enforcement agencies, eight fire departments and spanned “several crime scenes.”
Sgt. David Wright, a public information officer for the Kenosha County Sheriff’s Department, said in a statement Sunday afternoon that a suspect was located and charged with first-degree homicide. Officials left open the possibility of additional charges as the investigation continued.
A possible fourth injured victim left the tavern before authorities responded, Wright told The Washington Post. Surveillance video from Somers House showed a possible female victim who may have been shot, he said, but had not yet contacted authorities or checked into any hospital.
None of the victims had been identified by authorities Sunday evening. No further information was released about the crime scenes beyond Somers House tavern.
Early Sunday morning, the sheriff’s department described the suspect as a Black male over 6 feet tall wearing a light-colored hooded sweatshirt. The agency did not confirm whether the person of interest with pending charges was the suspect described in previous statements. Wright said the department is not yet confirming any suspect information.
“Detectives and other involved law enforcement officers have conducted numerous interviews and collected a great deal of evidence from the crime scenes including the impounding of several vehicles,” Wright said in a statement. “Detectives have followed up on multiple leads and gathered surveillance video evidence during extensive neighborhood canvasses.”
Peter Ploskee, 44, has lived across the street from the bar his whole life, he told The Post, and nothing like the shooting has happened there before. The bar is frequented by locals and students who attend Carthage College, which is less than a half-mile down the road, he said.
Ploskee said he was used to the sounds of loud music and arguments emanating from the tavern, but never gunshots. The mechanic and IT specialist was resting after a long day of work when he heard about 15 shots in a span of minutes.
Ploskee said he saw from his doorway what appeared to be a gunfight between two people.
“Two people were almost playing ring around the Rosie as they were shooting at each other. One guy got shot and ran across the road,” Ploskee said. “He hit the ground, and he passed away in front of the bar. Somebody else died on the patio.”
Ploskee said people ran out of the bar, screaming and crying, and some took refuge on his front lawn.
Authorities were at the scene less than five minutes after Ploskee heard the first gunshot, he said, and shut down roads in the area.
There have been about 150 shootings involving four or more victims in the United States in 2021, according to data from the Gun Violence Archive.