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Suspect identified in Wisconsin bar shooting that killed 3, injured 3 others

Law enforcement officers stood near the body of a victim Sunday as they investigated a mass shooting at a tavern in Kenosha, Wis., in which three people were killed. Photo by Tannen Maury/EPA-EFE
Law enforcement officers stood near the body of a victim Sunday as they investigated a mass shooting at a tavern in Kenosha, Wis., in which three people were killed. Photo by Tannen Maury/EPA-EFE

April 19 (UPI) -- Authorities on Monday identified a 24-year-old man arrested in connection with a weekend mass shooting that left three people dead and three others injured at a Kenosha, Wis., bar.

The Kenosha County Sheriff's Department said Rakayo Alandis Vinson has been placed in custody on homicide charges stemming from the early Sunday incident at Somers House Tavern in the southeastern Wisconsin city.

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Jail records showed Vinson, whose address was listed as "homeless," was being held on $4 million bond.

Authorities identified the three fatal victims as Cedric Gaston, 24, Atkeem Stevenson, 26, and Kevin Donaldson, 22, all of Kenosha.

Those injured were identified as three men in their 20's from Kenosha and Wonder Lake, Ill.

There could be at least one other possible unknown shooting victim, authorities said.

Kenosha County Sheriff David Beth told reporters the suspect got into an altercation at the bar shortly after midnight Sunday, during which he sustained facial injuries. After leaving the bar, he allegedly returned with a gun and targeted the three victims.

Beth said one of the victims died inside the bar and another died after staggering into the parking lot. The third victim, he said, was shot across the street and died after apparently getting into his car with others and traveling a short distance before succumbing to his wounds.

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The sheriff said it wasn't clear if Vinson knew the victims before the shooting, although it appeared likely they were specifically targeted.

The Kenosha incident was among the latest of dozens of mass shootings in the United States since March 16, when eight people were killed at several spas in the Atlanta area, according to a CNN tally.

"Something like 40 mass shootings in this country in the last month, and to think that Kenosha is part of something so tragic -- it just breaks your heart," Beth said at a news conference. "But we are doing our best to resolve this."

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