Gina and Emerson Weingart: 'Person of interest' arrested days after Wisconsin couple was fatally shot in a sports bar

ELKHORN, WISCONSIN: Police have arrested a "person of interest" just days after a Wisconsin newlywed couple was fatally shot inside a sports bar. Gina, 37, and Emerson Weingart, 33, were shot and killed after midnight on February 1 at Sports Page Barr in Elkhorn, the city’s police department has said. 

Both Gina and Emerson were found dead by police responding to the shooting. Police now say that a "person of interest," who was arrested in relation to another matter, is in custody, but authorities did not identify the person.

What did Emerson Weingart's father say?

“It’s gut-wrenching,” Emerson’s father, Jeff, told WAFB 9, adding “Somebody saw them. Somebody saw them. I don’t care, you don’t pull something like that off. I can’t believe that it was just her and him in the bar. So somebody saw them, and somebody had to give a description of them, and somebody had to see the car when he drove away, and they better find him.”

Gina and Emerson Weingart got married in June last year

According to the couple’s obituary, they got married in June 2023, having started dating in 2020. Gina worked part-time as a bartender at Sports Page Barr, while also working at Wisconsin Vision Associates, the obituary states. Emerson worked at a supermarket and, according to WAFB, would keep Gina company when she’d work late shifts at the bar.

“I believe I speak for our entire Sports Page family by saying we are absolutely devastated by what happened. It is a despicable act of violence that has shaken all of us to our core,” Jordan Barr, the owner of the bar wrote in a Facebook post.

James Dowdal, a resident residing above the bar, expressed the community's collective shock. "It was all taped off, both sides and the back," he remarked, emphasizing that the incident was especially "nerve-wracking" for him, considering his late-night return home.

Elkhorn Police Chief Joel Christenson previously stated, "We do not know at this time if it was a robbery or if it was targeted against the individuals. We have no reason to believe that it is. But until we have the evidence at the scene, we can’t determine it was simply a robbery," as per Fox News. 

A GoFundMe started to raise money for the families of Emerson and Gina has raised over $11,000.

Anyone with information regarding this incident is urged to call the Elkhorn Police Department at 262-723-2210. You may also remain anonymous and call the Walworth County Crime Stoppers at 262-723-2677 or electronically by using P3 Tips.