Police took two teens in to custody, after a robbery and foot-chase in downtown Madison in which a shot was fired. The incident also prompted Madison police to send out an alert to University of Wisconsin students, urging them to stay indoors.

It all started around 6:20 Wednesday night, when a 19-year-old man reported being robbed of his wallet, backpack, and keys at gunpoint just west of the Capitol Square. Police believe that someone who knew the victim chased one of the robbers on foot toward the lake front near the UW campus, where one of the suspects fired a shot on Langdon Street. There was no indication that the bullet hit anybody.

Madison Police spokesman Joel DeSpain says officers thought one of the suspects might have run into a Madison College building, but did not find him after a search. Police detained the two suspects, an 18-year-old and a 17-year-old, but they were not arrested.

AUDIO: MPD’s Joel DeSpain (:19)

The incident follows a spree of armed robberies and home invasions around the UW campus over the past month. Police are not saying at this point if the two men taken into custody are tied to the crime spree.

Robin Colbert, WIBA

Share the News