There's a serious problem in the community when an event honoring an anti-violence crusader and slain singer is marred by gun violence.
From the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:
The promoter of an urban music awards event in Milwaukee was one of two people shot during the Saturday night show, which drew 300 people in honor of local artists and anti-violence crusader Jeannetta Robinson.
Antonio Greer, CEO of So Be It Management, said Sunday he was shot in the foot on the sidewalk outside the Agape auditorium, and a second victim was inside the door at 3610 W. Villard Ave.
Police are seeking the shooter and trying to sort out what happened.
Greer said the episode could drive him out of the business after 10 years promoting acts here and around the country, ranging from comedians to R&B singers. Greer, 40, of Milwaukee, said he also runs awards events and charity basketball games.
"I'm about to hang my shoes up with this," Greer said. "This is a wake-up call."
His wife, Shawnda, dived into the doorway of a tavern to avoid the shots, and his daughter Ciarra, 19, was right next to the shooter when he started firing, Greer said.
"It's sad," Greer said. "You think you are doing something good and this happens."
...He and his wife were outside Agape briefly because someone affiliated with the building's owner asked them to move their cars, Greer said.
He said he peered back into the entrance to the theater and saw the shooter inside pointing a gun at someone, he said.
The man fired a shot inside, and then outside as Greer and his wife fled, he said.
"Everybody started running out the door," Greer said.
The Milwaukee Urban Music Awards were hosted by Pierre, a comedian. The show, which started with a red-carpet event outside the auditorium, was held last year for the first time, at the Miramar Theatre. The event promised live performances for the $15 advance ticket price.
Tributes included candlelight vigils for Robinson, the longtime executive director of Career Youth Development who died last year. Also honored was Yolanda "LaLa" Brown, an R&B singer who was slain in her west side recording studio in 2007 along with her boyfriend and producer, JeTannue Clayborn.
The second shooting victim at the event, police said, was a 27-year-old woman wounded in the right buttock.
Thankfully, no one was killed or critically wounded. When that's the good news, there's not much good news.
Of course, Greer is angry and disappointed that he ended up being shot when he set out to stage a positive event.
Gunfire at a show with tributes including candlelight vigils to honor the memory of Jeanetta Robinson and the murdered singer Yolanda "LaLa" Brown?
It's sick.
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