Sheriff: Wisconsin Casino Shooter Was Fired Employee

MADISON, WI—A man who shot two people and wounded a third at a Wisconsin casino's restaurant before police killed him police had been fired from the eatery and banned from the property, authorities said Monday.

The 62-year-old attacker walked into the Duck Creek Kitchen and Bar on Saturday and shot two people at a waiter station at close range with a 9 mm handgun, then shot a man outside the restaurant, Brown County Sheriff Todd Delain said during a news conference. A team from the Green Bay Police Department shot and killed the attacker on the north side of the building near a parking garage, he said.

Officials identified the two men fatally shot as 32-year-old Ian Simpson, and 35-year-old Jacob Bartel. A third man, who is 28 years old, was also shot and injured.
The suspect was identified as 62-year-old Bruce Pofahl.

The man who was shot and wounded outside the complex is 28 years old and was in serious but stable condition at a Milwaukee hospital.

The restaurant is part of a hotel and conference center that includes the Oneida Casino.

Oneida Chairman Tehassi Hill told WLUK-TV on Sunday that he was in “disbelief" and called the shooting “scary.” He said the tribe prohibits firearms on its properties but that “(mass shootings are) kind of a regular thing in this country.”

The attack happened around 7:30 p.m. Saturday in the restaurant at the casino complex operated by the Oneida Nation, whose reservation is located on the western side of Green Bay about 4 miles (6 kilometers) from Lambeau Field, home of the Green Bay Packers. The complex includes a casino, conference center, hotel and restaurant. Between 150 and 200 people work there, tribal leaders said.

Hill said he feels security is tight at the casino, but that the tribe may have to consider tougher protocols for the complex depending on investigators' findings.

The Oneida is one of 11 tribes that operate casinos in Wisconsin under agreements with the state called compacts. Essentially, the tribes pledge a percentage of their gaming revenue to the state in exchange for the exclusive right to offer casino gambling.

Tribal gaming in Wisconsin generated nearly $1.3 billion in gross revenue in the 2018-2019 fiscal year but suffered deep losses in 2020 due to COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns.