Arrests made in Madison University Ave. shooting incident

MADISON -- Madison police have a suspect in custody for a shooting that occurred near the UW-Madison campus back on May 19th.

The Manitowoc Police Department contacted the Madison Police Department after their officers arrested 22-year-old Derek Cannon of Madison.

Cannon was taken into custody in Sheboygan and transported to the Dane County Jail where he was booked on tentative charges of First Degree Recklessly Endangering Safety and Bail Jumping.

Police continue to look for Darrion Brown. Police say he could be driving a gold colored 2001 Mercury Sable 4-door with Wisconsin license plate 969-TLW. Police say Brown should be considered armed and dangerous.

Those with information on their whereabouts should call Madison Area Crime Stoppers at 266-6014. Callers can remain anonymous and may be eligible for up to a $1,000 reward.

In other case developments, officers, detectives, and SWAT team members executed two search warrants on residences in the 2300 block of Columbus Lane, where two people were arrested. A significant quantity of marijuana, three guns and a large sum of money were seized.

Those arrested include 23-year-old Michael McQueen of Madison and his brother, 21-year-old Christopher McQueen of Madison.

Both were tentatively charged with obstructing the University Ave. investigation.

Police say a man fired at a large crowd standing outside a bar on University Ave. The shooting came just days after police announced a new effort to cut down on gun violence.

Police say with large crowds that usually gather in the area, the situation could have been much worse.

"We're just so lucky that we didn't have a homicide, that we didn't have a double homicide or more," one police official said.

Police say the shots fired into a large crowd gathered in the 600 block of University Ave. left at least three people injured.

"Once I saw people starting to duck, I knew it was a serious situation," one witness said.

The UW student who didn't want to give her name, says she was among the many who immediately took cover at the nearby bar, to try to stay clear of the shooter.

Police say surveillance video shows the suspect firing at the crowd after a brief altercation, before fleeing the scene on foot. Police don't have a motive yet, and are still looking into whether the gunman was aiming, and whether he had a target. Police say they believe there may have been a fourth victim.

The incident blocked parts of University Ave. for several hours and left the UW campus shaken, causing campus officials to pull together and support their students through a counseling session.

"We wanted to offer the opportunity and space for students to come together with trained counselors to be able to process that," one university official said.

It was a violent and unusual incident that has one UW student who attended the counseling session and who was on his way to the bar when the shooting broke out, shocked.

"If I was there two minutes earlier, that could have been me. It's kinda freaky," the student said.

The shooting comes days after Madison's chief of police announced in a press conference his efforts to curb the recent trend of gun violence that has been on the rise since March.

"This was a very brazen act by a criminal to fire into a crowd on graduation weekend on a very busy street," a police official said.