[Update: 4:00 p.m., 5/24/12] Madison police have identified a second suspect in the downtown shooting that left three injured early Saturday morning near the UW-Madison campus.
The MPD detective team now has enough evidence to arrest 22-year-old Derek Cannon for recklessly endangering safety. He is considered “armed and dangerous,” according to Madison Police Department spokesperson Joel DeSpain.
Additionally, police arrested 23-year-old Michael McQueen and his 21-year-old brother Christopher for allegedly obstructing officers in their investigation of the shooting.
On Wednesday, the MPD detective team announced they are also looking for 20-year-old Darrion Brown, who is suspected of attempted homicide, according to DeSpain. Brown is also considered “armed and dangerous” and could be driving a gold-colored 2001 Mercury Sable 4-door car with Wisconsin License Plate 969-TLW.
Around 1 a.m. Saturday, multiple shots were fired into a crowd of about 100 people on the 600 block of University Avenue near Segredo and Johnny O’s Sports Lounge, according to DeSpain.
After hearing four gunshots early Saturday morning, UW-Madison senior David Michaels reported seeing a crowd of people running from the area near Segredo. Police cars arrived within minutes and barricaded off the block, but the suspect had already run away on foot.
“It was kind of surreal at some level,” Michaels, who witnessed the event from a nearby bar, said.
By watching surveillance footage in slow motion, police determined multiple guns were involved in the shooting, which leads detectives to believe there might be more than one suspect, according to DeSpain.
Detectives also believe the shooting is part of an ongoing fight between multiple people.
“We don’t know what the motive for this violence was, but again, this is a very brazen act by a criminal to open fire on a crowded downtown street at 1:15 in the morning,” DeSpain said Saturday.
DeSpain said two men, 18- and 23-years-old, and one 26-year-old woman were struck by bullets. The three victims, none of whom are UW-Madison students, were treated and released from a hospital.
Two of the three victims were involved in an earlier fight, but police do not know if the shooting of the 18-year-old man was intentional or if he happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.
At a press conference Saturday, DeSpain said officers found a trail of blood from the crime scene, leaving open the possibility of a fourth victim, though no additional people checked into the hospital.
“I just can’t get [it] out of my mind that it was really by sheer, dumb luck that nobody was more seriously injured or killed,” Ald. Mike Verveer, District 4, said.
Dean of Students Lori Berquam hosted a meeting Saturday to speak with students and faculty members about the shooting. There were also counselors available for students who were upset by the incident.
“I’m horrified by the news of a shooting near our campus,” Berquam said in a statement. “Madison is generally a safe community and this news is jarring.”
Associated Student of Madison Chair Andrew Bulovsky said the shooting was “shocking” and “everything is being done to make sure this doesn’t happen again.”
While police are still investigating, Segredo owner Michael Hierl said the shooting was in no way related to patrons of Segredo, Johnny O’s or any of the other businesses on the block.
“We happened to be at the wrong place in the wrong time in the sense that somebody decided to create some violence,” Hierl said.
Segredo is no stranger to problems occurring in the establishment and is one of only two licenses the MPD asked the Alcohol License Review Committee to evaluate, according to Verveer.
Verveer said the ALRC renewed 99 percent of all liquor licenses in Madison, but the committee separated out Segredo and Little Manhattan on Odana road for “extraordinary scrutiny” because of concerns with violence.
Most recently, Segredo staff did not immediately contact police when they found a loaded handgun in the bar, which belonged to a man who police arrested the same night for beating up two bouncers at Logan’s Madtown Restaurant and Bar.
“There is no denying that police have issues with Segredo in recent history,” Verveer said.
Hierl attributed the Friday shooting and other recent downtown violence to loitering crowds outside of downtown bars like Segredo, Johnny O’s and Wando’s who have no interest in doing business with the bars.
Verveer said the number of loitering individuals around downtown establishments has increased in the past year and has become a greater concern for the city.
Last Wednesday, Verveer, police officials and representatives from Johnny O’s and Wando’s Bar met with Mayor Paul Soglin, who announced after the meeting he is doubling the funding for police overtime on weekends downtown in an effort to improve safety.
“The city needs to take a more active role in looking at large crowds of people who are just loitering and are not there for good,” Hierl said.
DeSpain said the “proliferation of guns” in the community, specifically at the lower end of State Street, needs to be addressed by the city.
“We need to get on top of this as a community from an educational standpoint,” DeSpain said. “We need to put the bar very high in Madison and show that we’re not going to tolerate this type of thuggery and gun violence in this community.”
Police are continuing to investigate and urge anyone with information to call Madison Area Crime Stoppers at 608-266-6014.
Corinne Burgermeister, Alison Bauter and Mark Kauzlarich contributed to this article.
