ALPINE TOWNSHIP, Mich. — Deputies with the Kent County Sheriff's Office showed up to an event space off Four Mile early Sunday morning, after getting a call saying someone had been shot. While they do not believe anybody was actually hit, they are now looking for a man they say fired a shot into the ceiling, and assaulted someone during a private party.
Investigators say there were "hundreds" of people inside the Four Mile Showplace event space Saturday night, going into Sunday morning, when some sort of fight broke out.
As the altercation was happening, a man reportedly dressed in all black fired a shot into the ceiling.
When somebody attempted to confront him, the shooter allegedly pistol whipped the person in the face.
They reportedly fled the area in what investigators are calling "a sedan".
The Four Mile Showplace shares it's space with New Chapel church on the West end.
Pastor Joe Bevelacqua and his team have now been in the space for about seven years, spending countless hours of work making it a home away from home for all those who attend.
Recently though, he says the nighttime events at the Showplace are getting more unruly, and threatening to undo their efforts.
“We get along with all of our neighbors. There's professional buildings all around us, there's a nursing home. We're surrounded with houses on every side, but the truth of the matter is one bad apple can spoil the whole bunch,” Pastor Bevelacqua told FOX 17 on Monday. “If we don't say anything, this is going to get more loose... We have a daycare here, we want to make sure that this is a family friendly area.”
They found one of their windows busted up following a late night event at the space recently.
He says they have seen more activity spilling into the parking lot as of late.
"What we've seen is underage drinking, we've seen booze given away, we've seen booze sold out of tailgates in the parking lot,” he explained. "They've gotten on the roof, they've messed with some of our HVAC systems, they've left messes up there. They have been in areas that we found where they've been up there partying.”
Investigators do not believe anyone was struck by the gunshot fired inside over the weekend, but several people did have minor injuries because of the preceding fight.
Now, neighbors of the Showplace are hopeful this incident will spark some sort of change.
Anyone who may have been in attendance when the incident took place and took photos or video of what happened are encouraged to call the Kent County Sheriff's Office at (616) 632-6125. Tips or photos/videos can be sent completely anonymous through Silent Observer at (616) 774-2345.
