GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — There are concerns about a recent uptick in violence in one Grand Rapids neighborhood.
On South Division Avenue and Fair Street SE in the last three days, one man has been killed and two others have been hospitalized in separate incidents, all in the area of My Place Bar.
Daniel Holland, who owns the property directly across the street from the bar, is fed up. Almost every week, he says his parking lot is left filled with garbage from My Place Bar patrons.
"I've got to pick up beer bottles and liquor bottles and needles and condoms and a lot of trash," says Holland.
And now, he's had to manage a body in his lot. The victim in Friday's shooting was shot there, a memorial left on the spot by the victim's family.
"He's a father, he's a brother, he's a son," says Holland.
The property houses multiple businesses, including two auto repair shops. Often times, Holland stays late on nights My Place Bar is open, when bar customers flood his lot.
"I've been here and people are openly carrying weapons in their hands across the parking lot," says Holland. "I can't approach them and say, hey, I don't want you here, you need to leave."
White tape can be seen all over one of the buildings where police marked bullet holes from Friday's shooting. There are a few unmarked bullet holes in cars outside the building, as well.
"The evidence points to me that it is caused by what happens inside the bar and then it is pushed outside onto the street," says Holland.
According to the Michigan Liquor Control Commission (MLCC), a complaint was filed against My Place Bar in August stemming from a deadly shooting outside the bar in March. The complaint, filed by the Grand Rapids Police Department, says bar management failed to cooperate with law enforcement during its investigation.
Chief Eric Winstrom says that has since changed.
"We had a police officer go over there, look at the layout of the bar, the parking lot, etc., to see if there were improvements that can be made," says Winstrom.
Winstrom says it's hard to pin down a solution to the violence, but says it starts with finding those responsible. Suspects in both Friday's shooting and Monday's stabbing remain at large.
"We're going to identify the individuals responsible for those violent acts," says Winstrom. "And we're going to do what we can to prosecute them, hold them accountable, to make sure they can't cause the pain that they're causing to the victim's family today."
Winstrom and GRPD are still looking for witnesses to come forward about both the shooting and the stabbing. He asks that anyone with information contacts the police department.
As for Holland, he now intends to file a complaint to the MLCC himself, hoping to have the bar's liquor license revoked.
13 ON YOUR SIDE reached out to management of My Place Bar for comment, but have not heard back at this time.