Josiah Allick was in downtown Lincoln eating some Raising Cane’s chicken fingers with a friend, celebrating the Husker football team’s big win over Colorado on Saturday night.

A short time later, the celebratory mood was gone.

Allick, a former Husker men’s basketball player who is now a graduate assistant for the team, witnessed a shooting blocks away at 11th and P streets that killed a 24-year-old man and injured another person early Sunday morning.

Hours earlier, Allick was at Memorial Stadium on the sidelines in red-and-white overalls to watch Nebraska take on the Buffaloes in a prime-time matchup. Later, after the game, he and a friend headed downtown, eventually grabbing some food at Raising Cane’s at 14th and P streets. After their meal, they ran into friends and began walking down O Street. 

According to Allick, downtown was bustling, packed with people celebrating the triumph of the Husker football team.

“I just kind of felt the energy,” he said.

As they neared the intersection of 11th and O streets, however, they heard a commotion. Curious as to what was happening, they made their way toward the noise.

Allick said he saw three men fighting outside Highball Bar on 11th Street just to the north of the intersection at about 1:30 a.m. He tried to intervene before waving down a police officer. Soon, multiple officers arrived and broke up the fight, he said.

After the altercation was over, Allick and his friends started to walk away. That’s when they heard two gunshots ring out.

Allick said people rushed out of the bar after hearing the shots, unsure of where to go or how to react, forming a crowd of people around a man who had been shot outside.

Allick said he saw a woman who was clutching the man to her chest and screaming and rushed over to help. He said the man had a wound on his back and wasn’t moving. He tried to guide the woman to some nearby benches, but she wouldn’t leave the victim’s side, Allick said.

The Lincoln Police Department later said two men were shot, including a 24-year-old who died of his wounds at a Lincoln hospital hours later.

Police said they are not releasing the victim’s name pending notification of his family. Police are still searching for a suspect in the shooting, Lt. Brian Agnew said on Sunday.

Allick said the man he saw wounded did not appear to be directly involved in the fight that occurred right before the shooting, which marred what should have been a jubilant night.

“It was the wrong place, wrong time.”