Madison police make arrest in rooftop shooting that injured 12

A 17-year-old from Sun Prairie has been arrested and charged with reckless endangerment in connection with a shooting at a rooftop party in Madison earlier this month. 

The shooting at the Lux apartments in the early morning hours of June 9 was one of three incidents in what Madison Police Chief Shon Barnes had called “a very violent weekend.” 

Ten people were shot or suffered graze wounds at the unauthorized party, and two others were injured trying to escape. Police have said that many of the estimated 250 people in attendance were of high school age. 

Shell casings found at the scene indicated multiple weapons were used in the rooftop shooting. Police don’t know how many shooters were involved, Barnes said. 

Madison police have also issued a warrant in a drive-by shooting that occurred in a residential area on the city’s east side around 10:45 p.m. June 9. One victim remains in critical condition and the other was treated for his injuries and released, Barnes said. 

Police have identified Jerome L. Jacobs Jr as the shooter. Barnes said Jacobs was involved in a police pursuit “at one point this month” in Eau Claire, but was able to evade capture. 

“We believe he is still in the Madison area and is being hidden by associates,” Barnes said. 

Police are still investigating a homicide from the same weekend. A 27-year-old man was shot and killed around 1:30 a.m. June 7 in what police described at the time as a targeted incident. The victim has been identified as Alwayne Jones Jr, according to the Dane County Medical Examiner’s Office. 

More than 50 shell casings and a weapon were recovered along the 1300 block of Williamson Street. The homicide was the second in Madison this year. At this time last year, the city had recorded seven homicides, Barnes said. 

Detectives have identified persons of interest in the case but no arrests have been made, Barnes said. 

“The Madison Police Department has served 26 search warrants that have resulted in the recovery of eight illegal firearms. Additionally, eight cars and numerous electronic devices have been seized” across all three investigations, he said. 

“We have to secure firearms and to be a responsible gun owner,” he said.  

All of the weapons were seized from people who were not their rightful owners, he said.

“In one of these cases, I won’t give the specifics of where or who, but when we recovered the weapon, we traced the weapon back to the owner. The owner did not know it was stolen. The owner remembered putting it in a box in a closet five years ago,” Barnes said. 

Police encourage anyone with information about these cases to contact Madison Area Crime Stoppers online or at 608-266-6014.