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4/8/2022/ Comments off

1 woman shot in leg; patrons apparently helped take gun from man

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A shooting on the gaming floor at Potawatomi Bingo Casino early Sunday sent gamblers running out of the building. Credit: Photo contributed by De Von Dent

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Patrons enjoying the early hours of Father's Day at Potawatomi Bingo Casino apparently helped get a handgun away from an angry man who already had fired multiple shots on the casino's gaming floor Sunday.

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The suspect, a 27-year-old Wauwatosa man, fired a handgun and wounded a 23-year-old Milwaukee woman about 1:30 a.m., Milwaukee police Sgt. Mark Stanmeyer said.

Multiple people told the Journal Sentinel that frightened patrons stampeded in two waves toward the casino's exits in a chaotic scene as other gamblers sought cover under gaming tables and next to slot machines.

Ryan Amundson, a casino spokesman, said it was the first shooting he knew of inside the casino, at 1721 W. Canal St. There was an armed robbery there in 2011, and later there was an apparent incident of shots fired outside, he recalled.

Police said a fight preceded the shots, but they didn't provide details on the episode, which ended with the arrest of the suspect at the scene. They declined to comment on witness accounts of a struggle to get the gun from the shooter.

Two men said in separate interviews that they heard two to three shots fired, and photos taken by one of the men appear to show multiple unspent bullets on the ground inside the casino.

The casino closed until 9 a.m. Sunday after the incident. The victim, who was hospitalized, suffered a leg wound that was not life-threatening, according to police.

In interviews, friends Antonio Felder and De Von Dent credited Steven Karr with intervening first to try to get the gun after the shots were fired. All are from Milwaukee.

Felder, 48, a contractor with six children, told the Journal Sentinel that he saw Karr wrestling on the ground with two men, one of whom held a gun.

'It looked like a bad game of Twister with a gun,' Felder said. 'Everybody had their hands on the gun. It could have gotten worse.'

Felder, who was with Dent and some others, said: 'I was worried about my guys. I didn't want anything to happen to them.'

Felder said he joined the fray and put his foot on the gun hand of the suspect and a knee on his back as Karr held him. Karr got the weapon.

Dent, 33, who runs a multimedia marketing firm and was a partner in a north side restaurant, said he waded in as Felder and Karr secured the gun. Dent took multiple photos of the scene.

Karr declined to comment, but a woman who identified herself as his mother said he is retired and at one time had security training.

Police are still investigating the incident.

Casino officials were saying little on Sunday, deferring to police, but issued a statement praising their security team for their response.

Several casino patrons, including Felder, said the security presence during the incident was light and passive.

One patron, Chicago lawyer James Comerford, who was in the casino with a bachelor party group when the shooting occurred, said he and his buddies had just arrived and were standing at the elevated bar inside the main floor when 50 to 60 people headed for the exits after the sound of gunfire.

About five minutes later there was another stampede, he said.

'We saw people come sprinting,' he said.

He saw security guards crouched under gaming tables and did not hear casino workers give instructions to patrons. One dealer did get instructions to safeguard his chips, though, Comerford said.

'We were appalled,' he said. 'They had no plan.'

But Martanya Washington, 28, of Milwaukee, who said he was at the casino playing blackjack, did see a security guard telling patrons to get down.

Washington, a casino regular, described a chaotic scene on the gaming floor, with patrons ducking for cover. When the scene calmed somewhat, patrons lined up to cash out their chips, he said, only to see another rush for the exits.

'It was a crazy situation,' Washington said. 'All I could think was, it's Father's Day and I want to get home to my kids.'

He added: 'I will not be going back down there until they bring in metal detectors.'

The statement released by the Potawatomi casino stated in part:

'We are thankful no one was hurt more seriously and that the situation was contained quickly.

'Response by local law enforcement as well as our security team was outstanding. Potawatomi Bingo Casino will continue to cooperate and assist throughout investigation into this extremely isolated event.'

Police said the suspected shooter will be referred to the Milwaukee County district attorney's office for possible charges.

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