GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Just before 1 a.m. Monday, three people were shot inside a home on Kensington Ave. SW. It's one of a handful of shootings in Grand Rapids just in the last few weeks.
The three victims of the overnight shooting include a man, who was shot in his torso, and two women who were both shot in their right leg. They are all expected to be okay, but the search for the four suspects involved continues.
"All we know at this point in time is that we have four suspects, African American males that fled the scene," said Grand Rapids Police Sgt. John Wittkowski.
Wittkowski said Monday afternoon that the motive of the shooting was not yet clear to investigators. The recent uptick in gun violence and the 13 homicides so far this year are troubling to the department.
"Anytime there's gun violence in the city that is cause for concern. Not only for the Grand Rapids Police Department, but for the community as a whole," Wittkowski said.
The cause of the increase gun violence throughout the last few months isn't clear, but Wittkowski said the access to guns plays a big role. GRPD has had 200 crime related confiscations of guns just this year. But, Wittkowski said between recent gun store break ins and home invasions where guns are stolen, it's difficult for officers to keep up.
"The number of guns that are on the street illicitly that individuals who perpetrate crime have access to is considerable," he said.
Earlier this summer, GRPD upped patrols in areas of high crime, which Wittkowski said proved to work anecdotally. It also put a strain on officers, who were mostly working overtime shifts to beef up patrol.
"Eighteen new officers are on the street now in field training, so that certainly will help," Wittkowski said.
There are no plans yet to increase patrol again following the most recent string of gun violence, but Wittkowski said officers are actively working in other ways to promote a better relationship with the community and build trust.
Wittkowski also said the 'code of silence' that has seemingly plagued the city this summer, hasn't always been the case in recent shootings.
"I don't want to go ahead and say that everybody is silent and no one is talking. That's truly not the case, and we appreciate everybody that comes forward," Wittkowski said. "And any and all information we receive we follow up on."
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