GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — The tallest building in Grand Rapids, where people live and work, was hit by gunfire over the weekend. Now police are actively trying to find whoever may be responsible.
It's also not the first time this happened.
At around 2:30 a.m. on Feb. 19, officers with the Grand Rapids Police Department responded to two different units at River House At Bridgewater Place Condominiums that had been struck by gunfire.
"I'm sure the occupants were very unsettled," said Grand Rapids Police Chief Eric Winstrom. "I'm sure I certainly would be."
"And so we're taking it very seriously, and hopefully, we'll figure out who did this and make some arrests," he said.
The building located on Bridge Street NW along the Grand River is home to 205 condominium units. When officers arrived early Sunday morning, glass was broken in the two units they were called to, but luckilyx, no one was injured.
Chief Winstrom said people who lived in the condos possibly had bullets come into their unit or had their windows broken by bullets. He said it looks as though someone may have possibly fired rounds from the U.S. 131 expressway down below.
"It seems very random," said Chief Winstrom. "It's the tallest building in Grand Rapids, it's shiny, and it's sad to say that it could be so simple that someone driving with a handgun out the window is just shooting at a large object that they see, maybe there was alcohol or drugs involved, but we're not sure yet."
The chief also confirmed that a very similar incident happened at this building back in September of 2021.
"I wouldn't say there's any danger to the city per se, however, this is the second time that that particular building was struck with the gunfire," he said, "So, we're going to take a look at what was done then obviously, that was before my time, but see if there's any steps we can take proactively to make some changes to make sure this doesn't happen in the future."
The property company Krimson LLC's Condominium Services Manager responded to 13 On Your Side when asked for comment, saying the following:
"We do not have any additional information to share. The residents here have had their homes violated and request as little news coverage of this incident as you are willing to accommodate."
"Firearms are extremely dangerous, and we take this incident extremely seriously," said Chief Winstrom. "It's less likely that because of the height and the trajectory, that an injury would happen, some of the bullets didn't even go into the glass, but still, it's something that is potentially extremely dangerous, and even deadly."
Chief Winstrom said officers collected evidence from the scene and are looking for any surveillance video.
"If anyone saw something, especially somebody that was traveling on the expressway at that time, that could give us some more information about it would be helpful, because it's a very active investigation," he added.
Authorities are asking that anyone with any information regarding the shootings to please call Grand Rapids Police at (616) 456-3400 or Silent Observer at (616) 774-2345.
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