At least 2 people wounded during funeral at Wisconsin cemetery, police say
RACINE, Wis. – At least two people were wounded after shots were fired at a southern Wisconsin cemetery on Thursday afternoon, authorities said.
Update 9:10 p.m. EDT June 2: Sgt. Kristi Wilcox of the Racine Police Department said a juvenile was treated and released and a second was flown to a hospital in Milwaukee, WTMJ-TV and WISN-TV reported.
Original report: In a tweet, the Racine Police Department said multiple shots were fired at Graceland Cemetery at 2:26 p.m. CDT. The department added that there were victims but the number was unknown “at this time.”
Multiple casings were found in the area, The Journal Times of Racine reported. According to the newspaper, area residents said they heard between 20 and 30 shots.
“Accurately, 20 to 30. I would say. It was a lot. The one initial one and then gunfire. It was terrifying,” Tre Brantley told WISN-TV. “Within 30 seconds we were all running off the court. we didn’t stop to grab any of our stuff. We didn’t stop to talk about it.”
According to WISN, a spokesperson at Draeger-Langendorf Funeral Home & Crematory confirmed that the shooting occurred during the funeral of Da’Shontay Lucas King Sr. The 37-year-old was fatally shot by a Racine police officer during a traffic stop on May 20, the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reported.
According to his obituary, King was scheduled to be buried at Graceland Cemetery on Thursday afternoon.
One woman said Thursday’s shooting “sounded like firecrackers,” according to the Journal Times.
“I can’t even go to a funeral,” another woman, who requested anonymity, told the newspaper, adding that the shooting was “like a movie.”
Racine is located about 22 miles south of Milwaukee and about 70 miles north of Chicago.
The Racine County Medical Examiner’s Office confirmed to WDJT-TV that they have not been called to the scene.
A spokesperson for Ascension All Saints Hospital, which is treating an unnamed number of victims from the shooting, confirmed to the Journal Times that the facility was on lockdown “out of an abundance of caution.”
The hospital is adjacent to the cemetery, the newspaper reported.
“The safety of our associates, patients, visitors and providers is our top priority,” hospital officials said in a statement to WISN. “Due to a situation offsite, increased security measures have been put in place at Ascension All Saints Hospital. Patients are still able to keep previously scheduled appointments and the emergency department is currently accepting patients. However, out of an abundance of caution, the number of open entrances into the hospital has been reduced and additional security screenings have been implemented.”
In a Facebook post, the Racine police department was asking for any video that might have been recorded during the shooting.
