GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — The Grand Rapids Police Department (GRPD) is investigating a shooting that took place on the city's East side Thursday evening.
GRPD Chief Eric Winstrom said the 911 call came in at about 6:50 p.m. reporting a shooting in the 900 block of Pastiche Drive SE.
Police confirmed that three people were shot. One of the victims, an adult woman, was pronounced dead at the scene.
The other victims, both adult men, were brought to nearby hospitals in serious condition. Winstrom could not provide the exact ages of any of the victims.
He said the officers on the scene had already spoken with many witnesses who were very cooperative with the investigation, many of which were residents of the nearby apartment buildings.
Winstrom said they also spoke with family members of the woman who was killed.
"A lot of family members who are absolutely devastated tonight, of this young woman who was a mother, her mother's actually on scene as well," said Winstrom. "There are a lot of family in this apartment here, so a lot of grieving people out here tonight."
As far as a motive for the shooting, Winstrom said they don't know that for sure yet. However, witnesses said they heard arguments and "strong words."
"I think when we figure out what the motive is, it's not going to make any sense," he said. "It's certainly going to bring little to no comfort to the family who's out here crying tonight."
Despite not knowing the motive, Winstrom said the shooting does appear to be targeted and not a "random act of violence."
"These two men were likely targeted," he said. "We're very intent on solving this, but our number one concern is that these two young men, who are, they both received potentially life-threatening injuries, we want to make sure that they get taken care of, so we're not pushing for answers from them right now."
He went on to say that at least two of the victims did appear to have sustained multiple gunshot wounds. He said once they get the care they need, he hopes they'll be able to help solve the crime and "bring some very bad people to justice very quickly."
Winstrom said the investigation is ongoing, around 9:30 p.m. on Wednesday he described the scene as still being very active and said they had detectives canvassing the area.
"The shooters apparently fled in a vehicle," he said. "We don't have a license plate or a description or name of offenders at this time, but we have a big footprint out here."
When asked if they were looking for one shooter or multiple, Winstrom said it was hard to say. However, he said based on the amount of shell casings it looked like there was potential for more than one shooter or even a drive-by shooting with multiple vehicles.
"The only thing I'm confident in saying is that there was an argument, words were exchanged, shots were fired and then at least one shooter fled in a vehicle," he said.
Winstrom said as they continue to investigate, people can expect to see a large police presence in the area.
This is now the 12th murder of the year that the Grand Rapids Police Department has investigated. Winstrom said that is "twelve too many."
Anyone with information is asked to contact the Grand Rapids Police Department or Silent Observer. Detectives can be reached at (616) 456-3380 or tips can be sent anonymously through Silent Observer at (616) 774-2345/ www.silentobserver.org.