JANESVILLE, Wis. (WTVO) — Janesville Police have announced the arrest of Lawrence White, 19, and Tyrone Gibson, 25, as suspects connected to multiple shootings that took place on Sunday, October 1st.
According to police, the first shooting happened in the 400 block of South Jackson Street around 2:43 p.m.
A 21-year-old male suffered non-life-threatening injuries. Police said two “persons of interest” were investigated by not arrested due to insufficient evidence, although police said the shooting was the result of a dispute between the involved parties.
Later, at 11:05 p.m., shots rang out in the parking lot of Woodmans, at 2819 N. Lexington Drive. No one was injured, but police learned that Gibson, the intended victim, was a suspect in the Jackson Street shooting.
On Wednesday, October 4th, at 11:30 a.m., an off-duty officer spotted Gibson on N. Washington Street and called for uniformed officers.
When a uniformed officer arrived and told Gibson to show his hands, Gibson reportedly drew a gun from his waistband and fired at a detective who just arrived.
Gibson then fled through the residential area, running through yards to avoid capture, police said.
He was chased and arrested at 11:39 a.m. and a gun was recovered. Gibson, who was on probation, now faces two counts of Attempted Murder, along with the charge of Felon in Possession of a Firearm.
On October 6th, the investigation led police to arrest White at his residence, as the suspect in the retaliatory shooting at Woodmans. He was charged with Attempted Murder and Recklessly Endangering Safety.
Law enforcement also arrested David Baldwin, 36, who was with White at the time of his arrest, on the charge of Felon in Possession of a Firearm.
Police addressed community safety in a press release, as word of the shootings spread throughout the city over the past weekend.
Authorities said their investigations determined the participants had targeted each other and there was no threat to uninvolved members of the community.
“As information related to these incidents was gathered, there was no information or suggested actions we could give to the community that would reduce this indirect threat. The best way for the members of the Janesville Police Department to protect the community from this threat was to identify suspects and make arrests as rapidly as possible. As we decided that releasing information might compromise these efforts, we recognized that information releases would serve only to compromise our ability to protect the community through swift resolution of these investigations,” police said.
