GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — After a large fight broke out at the Grand Rapids fireworks show Saturday night, the Grand Rapids Police Department said three people were arrested.
Deputy Chief of Police Eric Payne said the crowd of 200-300 juveniles went downtown with the "intention" of fighting.
"They basically came down to the area to fight,” said Payne. “When you have 200-300 youth out there that are not being supervised with the intention of fighting, it creates a problem for the area and the officers.”
The three people who were arrested range in age from 13 to 19.
After the fireworks show, video of the fight was shared on Facebook and it showed a crowd of people in front of the LOVE sculpture on Monroe Avenue NW across the street from Rosa Parks Circle. In the video, the group can be seen shoving each other and at one point, kicking someone on the ground.
No serious injuries were reported from the fight.
Payne said he believes the crowd of youths were all dropped off downtown by their parents.
“These events remind us that we need to have supervision of our youth. It’s important for parents to be responsible," said Payne. “I would like to stress parental involvement and community involvement.”
The city does have a curfew for unsupervised minors, but at the time of the fight, the crowd was not violating the curfew.
The fight was not the only incident police responded to Saturday night. There were also two shootings that injured three people and killed one.
Monday, police identified the victim who was killed as Saul Espinoza, 20. He was fatally shot at 6th Street NW and Front Avenue NW, which is near the Fish Ladder Park. Another woman was also struck by gunfire and she is recovering from injuries.
Payne said he believes Espinoza's shooting death was not random. Police are treating it as a homicide.
The other shooting took place near the Big Boy on Pearl Street NW. Two teens were injured in that incident, and Payne said they are expected to fully recover.
“This is a safe city, but it does have big city problems,” said Payne.
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