GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Police are looking at potential proactive approaches to alleviating violent situations downtown, after a person was stabbed near a bar on South Division early on Monday. This coming after a man was shot and killed in the same area Friday morning.
Around 2:40 a.m. on Monday, police responded to the 1400 block of South Division, after getting a report that someone had been stabbed in the road.
Police tell FOX 17 that they do not believe the victim and suspect knew each other. Their initial investigation suggests that the stabbing victim had stepped in to break up a fight between people they didn’t know.
The scene was just a few feet from the My Place bar, though the establishment was closed at the time it happened.
The victim was transported to the hospital with “serious” injuries.
Just over 48 hours prior, there was another violent occurrence in the same area.
At around 1:30 a.m. on Friday, a pair of Grand Rapids Police Officers were driving in their shared cruiser down South Division.
As they approached the My Place bar, they began hearing the sound of gun shots.
When they got in front of the bar, they could see a fight in progress.
One of the officers fired their gun on scene, but did not hit anyone.
According to witnesses that FOX 17 spoke to, the shooting happened after a confrontation between at least two men.
An adult man was killed in the shooting, while another was shot in the stomach.
While that victim was left alive, he was taken to the hospital in “critical” condition.
The fact that both of these violent incidents happened in the same vicinity, so close together, is concerning to the police department, business owners, and people living in the area.
“People are trying to run a business, people are trying to live in peace, so balancing all those and making sure we’re fair to everyone… it’s a lot of moving pieces,” Grand Rapids Police Chief Eric Winstrom said on Monday. “Whether it was the stabbing, or the incident Friday with the shooting, there are individuals we know were there that witnessed what happened, that haven't come forward yet, and this is too important not to come forward.”
FOX 17 has spoken to Ciro Barias twice now in the past week— once after Friday’s shooting, and again following the stabbing on Monday.
“It’s frustrating, my business is going down. People are scared of this area,” Barias told FOX 17 on Monday.
He has high definition security cameras posted all the way around his business, located just across Division Avenue from the My Place bar.
Barias says he sees or hears police responding to incidents about twice a week, typically in the evening hours.
“On Friday, my parking lot was invaded,” he said on Monday.
Barias was sleeping at his shop on Friday, when he was shaken out of bed by gun shots.
He ran outside to see what was happening, trying to make sure his business wasn’t in immediate danger.
There is immense frustration with people he feels are not taking ownership of their city.
“They have to do something about it. They have to do something about it, because there's a lot of good people still on the area,” he said on Friday.
Chief Winstrom says the owner of the My Place bar reached out to him directly following Friday’s shooting, hopeful for collaborative safety solutions.
He says the Grand Rapids Police Department sent out a crew to perform a Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED) assessment on the establishment.
“We send an expert down to look at the layout,” Chief Winstrom explained. “Say, you know what, you need better lighting here, or you could increase the window sizes here, make it less likely for crime to happen inside the establishment.”
Anyone who was at the bar, or in the area, during the shooting on Friday is asked to reach out to the GRPD, or submit an anonymous tip through Silent Observer.
“Whether it was the stabbing, or the incident Friday with the shooting, there are individuals we know were there that witnessed what happened that haven't come forward yet,” he said on Monday. “This is too important not to come forward.”
You can reach the detectives at the Grand Rapids Police Department by calling (616) 456-3380.
Completely anonymous tips can be submitted to Silent Observer at (616) 774-2345.
