Kenosha Police released a statement Wednesday morning alerting Wisconsin residents that a “manhunt” is underway for a man who shot three suspected looters in Kenosha Tuesday night, killing two and wounding one.
The suspect, who appears to be a young white male, is seen in several now-viral videos, wielding a long gun, and could be one of a number of vigilantes who took it upon themselves to protect Kenosha businesses from the destruction and violence that has raged across the city since Sunday in the wake of a police-involved shooting that left Jacob Blake, a black man, in critical condition.
As The Daily Wire reported earlier Wednesday, altercations broke out in Kenosha late Tuesday night, and it appears an “armed citizen” opened fire on rioters trying to break into a car dealership.
“BREAKING they shot someone in the head at the #KENOSHA riot RIGHT NOW I repeat someone has been shot in what appears to be the head while looting a car shop,” guerilla reporter Elijah Schaffer reported on Twitter just after midnight.
A separate video reporter who goes by the moniker “BG On the Scene” captured the incident in his own social media video. Townhall’s Julio Rosas followed up with reporting on the first man’s wounds. In the ensuing melee, the gunman allegedly shot two more people. It is not clear yet which of the victims died.
Kenosha’s police department issued a statement early Wednesday asking Kenosha residents for help in identifying the gunman. They later told The New York Times, however, that they believe the shooter may have come to Kenosha from out of state and that the incident may have stemmed from a fight that broke out between “self-styled militias guarding a gas station” and rioters.
Kenosha County Sheriff David Beth told the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel that they do have information on the shooter and do not expect him to be at large very long.
“No one has been apprehended, but Beth said he believed at least one person would be taken into custody soon based on video footage police have reviewed,” the outlet reported.
“I feel very confident we’ll have him in a very short time,” Beth said, according to the Journal-Sentinel.
Although Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers resisted White House efforts to assist in keeping the peace in Kenosha and deployed only a quarter of available National Guard troops on Tuesday evening, it appears he may be considering a larger show of force for the rest of the week.
On Tuesday, the governor signed an executive order declaring a state of emergency and doubling the National Guard’s presence in Kenosha, according to the Madison State Journal. Further measures are expected later in the afternoon on Wednesday.