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Jamal CollierESPN
MILWAUKEE — Three people were shot near Deer District outside Fiserv Forum near the conclusion of Friday night’s Game 6 between the Milwaukee Bucks and the Boston Celtics, sending fans there fleeing through the streets.
The Milwaukee Fire Department said one man and one woman shot were transported to the hospital Friday night, while a third person drove there. All three have non-life-threatening injuries.
Police said a 29-year-old man is in custody.
“The incident took place outside of the Deer District area,” Milwaukee Bucks Chief Communications Officer Barry Baum said in a statement to ESPN. “We direct all questions to the Milwaukee Police Department.”
Bucks fans began packing into Deer District during the team’s run to the NBA championship last season, but with a chance to clinch the Eastern Conference semifinal series against the Celtics, and on a warm day following a long winter here, Friday was the first opportunity for fans to pick up the tradition. The team even had set up metal detectors surrounding the bars and entrance to the stage outside of the arena.
But the shooting took place outside that perimeter, about one block away from Fiserv Forum.
The Bucks announced before the game that the Deer District had officially reached the 11,000-person capacity set for the watch party before Game 6.
Witnesses outside the arena said they heard gunshots with a little more than a minute remaining in the fourth quarter of Boston’s 108-95 victory, which sent many in the crowd into a frenzy, running in several different directions.
A large police presence remained outside the arena hours after the game’s conclusion, with police taping off several intersections nearby. An investigation is ongoing.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.