A 19-year-old Madison man suffered non-life-threatening
injuries Wednesday after he was shot outside the Mental Health Center of Dane
County located at 625 W. Washington Ave.
More than a dozen police cars surrounded the Kennedy
Building, which houses the Mental Health Center, around 6 p.m. Wednesday.
According to Ald. Mike Verveer, District 4, the incident
does not appear to be a random act of violence, adding the shooter knew the
victim.
Verveer said the crime appears to be over a “grudge” of some
sort and such a crime could have happened anywhere in the city.
Police know the identity of the suspect and the suspect’s
accomplices, and, as of press time, the individuals remained at large. Authorities
found a car used by one of the suspects on Madison’s south side, and they do
not believe the suspects remain in the downtown area.
“I’m very confident Madison police will solve this case
expeditiously,” Verveer said.
The victim was at the Mental Health Center for a routine
appointment, Verveer said. He was immediately taken to a local hospital for
treatment.
According to Verveer, the victim is not a University of
Wisconsin student, and neither the victim nor the suspects reside in the
downtown area.
A witness to the crime who was standing at a bus stop near
the Kennedy Building told The Badger Herald the shooting occurred just outside
the building.
“I could hear bullets being fired,” he said. “I would say
four, five or six of them.”
Verveer said police believe about three of the shots were
fired at the victim.
The witness, who wished to remain anonymous, said he saw a
group of men running up West Washington away from the scene and toward Capitol
Square immediately after the gunshots rang out.
The shooting occurred blocks away from where 21-year-old
University of Wisconsin student Brittany Zimmermann was killed April 2 and
where 31-year-old Joel Marino was killed Jan. 28.
Verveer said the downtown area remains “on edge” following
Zimmermann’s homicide but added Wednesday’s incident is not connected to the
two homicides.
Verveer said the Mental Health Center “provides critically
important services to the community” and while the victim was receiving medical
treatment there, the center is not connected to the shooting in any way.
The last shooting downtown came May 22, 2007, when
23-year-old Austin Bodahl was killed in the 600 block of State Street.
“Downtown shootings are extremely rare, unlike some more
challenged Madison neighborhoods,” Verveer said. “Shootings downtown are rare
and far and few between.”
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— Nick Penzenstadler
contributed to this report.
