KENOSHA COUNTY, Wis. (WLS) — A lawyer for a man charged with killing three people and wounding three others in an April shooting at a crowded bar in Wisconsin says his client wasn’t the one looking for trouble.
Twenty-five-year-old Rakayo Vinson is accused in the deaths of 24-year-old Cedric Gaston; 26-year-old Atkeem Stevenson; and 22-year-old Kevin Donaldson, all of Kenosha.
A criminal complaint said surveillance video shows Vinson walking to the patio of the Somers House Tavern in the village of Somers and opening fire before fleeing.
Vinson’s attorney, Donald Bielski, told the jury during opening statements that he plans to play a 25-minute video showing that the three victims were the ones seeking conflict.
Prosecutor Michael Graveley says all evidence points to Vinson’s guilt.
Jury selection was Monday for the man accused in the shooting outside a Kenosha County bar that left six people shot, three fatally, last year.
Vison was charged with murder and attempted murder in the incident.
He’s accused of opening fire at the Somers House Tavern off Sheridan Road in Wisconsin in the early morning of April 18 after getting into a fight.
Three of the victims were hospitalized with gunshot wounds, including two from Wonder Lake who were playing in a band when they were shot.
Two of the victims died at the scene. The third victim fled in a car with other people but later died on the way to a hospital.
“At first, there was a fight that broke out between two individuals right next to the bar,” said Heidi Wittwer, who was at the bar at the time of the shooting.
The sheriff said the person responsible may have been told to leave the bar, and then returned to go on the shooting spree.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
The video in the player above is from an earlier report.
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Source: ABC7
