Oneida Nation Casino Reopens Today Following Traditional Healing After Shootings

Posted on: May 6, 2021, 01:08h. 

Last updated on: May 6, 2021, 11:15h.

Ed Silverstein @casinoorgedsilv Read More

Expertise: Legal, Tribal Gaming.

Oneida Casino’s Main-Airport gaming site and Irene Moore Activity Center bingo hall will reopen at 8 am Thursday. They were shuttered after the Wisconsin tribal casino complex was the site of fatal shootings over the weekend.

The complex’s West Mason, Packerland, and Travel Center casinos also were closed after the shooting. They reopened Sunday.

On Wednesday, the Oneida Nation conducted a traditional healing ceremony on the grounds of the Oneida Casino complex. It included tobacco burning, as well as smudging of a complex building and tribal members.

Traditional Cleansing

Oneida Nation Chairman Tehassi Hill told WLUK, a local TV station, that the ceremony helps to “bring our community and employees back together and kind of cleanse this area through the smudging process and that tobacco burning.

We wanted to make sure we’re taking a balanced approach to all of our employees and our community as well. Making sure we’re taking care of their physical health, that emotional health, and that spiritual health,” Hill added.

The ceremony was conducted in the Oneida language. It was also translated into English, WLUK said.

The restaurant where the two employees were fatally shot by the assailant is known as the Duck Creek Kitchen + Bar. It is located in the Radisson Hotel & Conference Center, which is located adjacent to the tribal casino. The property is near Green Bay.

A third person was seriously wounded by the assailant near the restaurant. The shooter was then shot dead by police at the scene.

The tribe made counselors available to casino complex employees. “Our focus is helping our team by providing the support and services needed as they begin the process of healing,” Radisson Hotel General Manager Steve Ninham said.

Shooter Was Subject of Restraining Order

In recent days, it was revealed that a restraining order and an injunction were issued by a judge earlier this year against the shooter, WBAY, another local TV station, reported.

The shooter had been fired by the restaurant. The restraining order was requested by another employee.

The victimized employee received text messages and emails. The correspondence included threats, and even showed photos of her home, WLUK added, and threats were also made against the victim’s relatives.

The shooter had been prohibited from entering the restaurant building, WLUK reported, citing police sources.

On Saturday evening, the assailant made his way to a waiter station at the restaurant. He then shot the two workers, police said. He was at close range.

Three Green Bay Police Department officers were believed to have shot at the shooter during a confrontation on a first-floor parking ramp on the east side of the casino complex, the Green Bay Press-Gazette said.

“The recent shooting at the Oneida Nation casino in Wisconsin is a reminder that there is always the possibility that a disgruntled/fired employee will commit a deadly act or threaten such an act,” Robert Jarvis, a professor at Nova Southeastern University’s Shepard Broad College of Law, told Casino.org when asked about the incident.