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MILWAUKEE — Milwaukee officials on Saturday enacted a curfew for young people and added extra patrols after 21 people were injured in three separate downtown shootings near an entertainment district where thousands gathered for an NBA playoff game.
Three people were injured in the first shooting, one in the second, and 17 in what police described as an exchange of gunfire between two groups of people, all just a few blocks from the arena where the Milwaukee Bucks lost to the Boston Celtics in Game 6 of the NBA's Eastern Conference semifinals. All of the victims are expected to survive.
"What makes people think they can just have a shootout on a public street or in an entertainment district, whether police are there or not?" Assistant Police Chief Nicole Waldner asked at a noon news conference.
Mayor Cavalier Johnson said the city imposed a curfew for the downtown area requiring everyone age 20 or younger to be off the street by 11 p.m. for Saturday and Sunday. Extra police patrols also are planned.
"We cannot have that in this city, nor anywhere else in this state, nor anywhere else in this country," Johnson said.