Person of interest in custody after Wisconsin newlyweds gunned down in bar shooting
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A career criminal allegedly killed a newlywed couple during a tense bar robbery after a bartender threatened to call police and tried to knock the gun out of his hands, court documents say.

Thomas Routt Jr. barged into the Sports Page Barr in Elkhorn, Wisconsin shortly after midnight on Feb. 1, and told the bartender – Gina Weingart – to get on the ground, according to the probable cause affidavit obtained by Fox News Digital.

She threatened to call the police and “slapped the gun, and it went off.” the affidavit says. Then Weingart dropped and “went limp,” Routt Jr. allegedly told police. 

Once she went down, Routt Jr. shot her husband, Emerson, and stole $120-$140 from the register, the affidavit alleges. He saw Emerson was still alive, so he allegedly shot him again as he left and chased an unnamed witness.

Gina worked at the bar, and the couple were regulars at a place they loved to hang out. It was the same place where they were gunned down. 

A family member posted on Facebook that it was a “senseless bar robbery” that claimed their lives too early. 

“Emerson would go to the bar after work and hang around while Gina would work to support her as she would work late. They were only married for 9 months, married just this past summer,” a cousin, Brittany Weingart, said in a Facebook post. 

Social media posts and comments poured in for the couple, who “became inseparable,” since they first got together in 2020. They got married last June. 

Gina and Emerson Weingart walking down the aisle during the June 2023 wedding.

Gina and Emerson Weingart walking down the aisle during the June 2023 wedding.  (Gina Weingart/.Facebook)

The owner of the bar posted a heartfelt message on Facebook honoring the young couple and called the shooting “the act of a coward” and changed their photo to include Gina and Emerson surrounded by friends and family. 

“I want to talk about the two lives that were tragically taken from us too soon. Our bartender, Gina, and her husband Emerson, both dear friends of ours,” the bar owner posted on Facebook. 

“Their lives were just beginning, and 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.”

Fox News Digital’s Stepheny Price contributed to this story. 

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