Police investigating the murder of a “beautiful and kind-hearted” newlywed couple shot to death in a Wisconsin bar have a “person of interest” in custody after a lead emerged over the weekend.
Gina and Emerson Weingart were shot in the early hours of Thursday morning at the Sports Page Barr in downtown Elkhorn in the southern part of the state.
Gina, 37, worked as a bartender at the sports bar two nights a week and Emerson, 33, regularly kept her company late into the night by sitting at the bar while she worked.
“Officers have focused their efforts on an investigative tip that emerged over the weekend and identified a person of interest,” Elkhorn police said in a statement Monday night.
“The individual has been taken into custody on an unrelated matter while officers continue their investigation.”
Gina and Emerson Weingart (pictured) were shot in the early hours of Thursday morning at the Sports Page Barr in downtown Elkhorn in the southern part of the state
Gina (right), 37, worked as a bartender at the sports bar and Emerson (left), 33, regularly kept her company late into the night by sitting at the bar while she worked
Elkhorn City Police said they received a 911 call about “shots fired” at Sports Page Barr (pictured) around 12:11 p.m., but the couple died from their injuries
The couple grew up in Wisconsin and tied the knot in June 2023, just months before the tragedy. Police have yet to confirm whether they believe the couple were targeted or whether it was a random attack.
The Elkhorn City Police Department said it received a 911 call about “shots fired” around 12:11 p.m., but the couple had already died from their injuries by the time police arrived.
Emerson's father, Jeff Weingart, said police were “getting better at finding” the suspect and described the news that his son had died in such a horrific way as “insane.”
“We asked all sorts of questions. I asked if they had a suspect, they wouldn't say. I asked if they had an eyewitness, but they wouldn't say.
“Someone saw her,” he told WISN. “Someone saw her. I don't care, you can't do something like that. I can't believe it was just her and him in the bar.
“So someone saw them, and someone had to give a description of them, and someone had to see the car driving away, and they better find him.”
The distraught father added that Emerson called him at 12:09 a.m. minutes before his death.
“When I answered, no one was there, I was sleeping,” he told WISN. “And he called. He probably didn't know who else to call.'
The family learned of the shooting when Emerson's two younger brothers heard about it from friends listening on police scanners overnight.
The brothers broke the news to their parents on Thursday afternoon.
Police cordoned off the area as they searched for evidence, while distraught friends, relatives and locals left flowers, candles and photos of the couple nearby.
Emerson was a Christian and “avid sportsman” who “learned to fish almost as soon as he could walk,” according to the couple’s joint obituary.
He grew up in Burlington, Wisconsin, and worked at Kroger as a meat department manager at Metro Market in Mukwonago.
Emerson's father said the family met with detectives Friday and left the meeting feeling “very pleased” with police efforts.
Gina, from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, was “a very social person and loved people.” She also had a “great” singing voice and had been selected for a dance group on a cruise ship.
“When she walked into a room at the end of the day, she knew everyone.” “She had a beautiful smile that would light up any room,” her obituary said.
“Gina and Emerson began dating in 2020 and became inseparable,” the tribute continued. “(They were) two of the most beautiful, kind-hearted, fun-loving couples you could ever know.”
The Weingarts (pictured together) both grew up in Wisconsin and tied the knot in June 2023, just months before the attack
Gina, of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, was “a very social person and loved people,” according to their shared obituary, while Emerson was a Christian and an “avid athlete.”
Police are yet to confirm whether they believe the pair (pictured together in 2023) were targeted or whether it was a random attack
Sports Page Barr owner Jordan Barr wrote on social media: “Our bartender Gina and her husband Emerson, both dear friends of ours, were taken from all of us this morning.”
“Sports Page Barr’s staff and regulars have always been more than a close-knit group, a family.”
“Her life had only just begun and I believe I speak for our entire Ports Page family when I say we are absolutely devastated by what has happened. “It is a despicable act Violence that has shaken us all to our core.”
The double murder has horrified residents of the small town of Elkhorn, which has not had a murder since 2015, and local business owners have said they will increase security measures.
“It's a bad feeling,” Aaron Gottchalk, owner of Driven Nutrition near the scene, told WISN. “You know, we don’t know anything right now.”