MADISON, Wis. — State Street is one of Madison’s most iconic streets. Though the news of Tuesday’s shooting left some of its businesses slightly rattled by what happened, it was back to work as usual on Wednesday.
“That’s not something that we really hear down here on State Street,” said Anthony Moors. He’s the manager at Michelangelo’s Coffee House on State Street.
As the owner of Clary’s Old Fashioned Gourmet Popcorn, Kenneth Clary agrees with Moors. He says the normal State Street sounds include the noises of his gourmet popcorn, not the popping noise of gunshots.
“I was shocked. Who wouldn’t be,” said Clary. “Stuff like this kind of pushes people away.”
The victim of the shooting right outside of Clary’s Old Fashioned Gourmet Popcorn walked into Michelangelo’s Coffee House before he was taken to an area hospital.
“It’s just such a fluke thing to happen,” Moors said. “In all of our time down here, you know, I came up out the back and saw that there was a guy laying on the floor in the back room.”
During a news conference Wednesday afternoon, Madison Police Chief Shon Barnes said there were 11 incidents with weapons last year on State Street. Tuesday’s shooting was the first weapons incident there this year, making 2022 far below past years on record for the area.
On Wednesday, it was back to business as usual for both storefronts. Moors said with employees and customers helping the victim of the shooting inside his workplace, he felt as though it was a reflection of the community in Madison.
“It’s something to be able to see how the community downtown responded to it,” said Moors. “The authorities that came and everything that they did, the patrons here, I think it really shows how great of a community we have in downtown Madison.”
As for Clary, he’s hoping these unfamiliar sounds of violence stay rare on State Street.
“I grew up here, you know, as a kid,” said Clary. “Nobody got shot. Things have changed, definitely, things have changed.”
COPYRIGHT 2022 BY CHANNEL 3000. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. THIS MATERIAL MAY NOT BE PUBLISHED, BROADCAST, REWRITTEN OR REDISTRIBUTED.
