GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — The Grand Rapids police chief, the leader of a community organization, and a grief-stricken mother all spoke to FOX 17 on Wednesday, all wanting better for the community.
This outcry comes after a 17-year-old boy was shot on Sunday evening. He was hit in the neck. He survived.
The shooting happened just after 11 p.m. on Sunday, near Watkins and Alto.
The boy’s mother says when she got a knock at her door Sunday evening, she couldn’t process what she was being told.
You see, her son died at 14 years old in the summer of 2024 after a car crash.
“I thought I had lost two sons,” Mijah told FOX 17.
Her worst fears didn’t come true. But her anxiety is not eased.
“What if I would have went to the scene, and he wasn’t breathing?” Mijah said.
FOX 17 spoke with the leader of Save A Life A Day, a community-based outreach organization that works with young people.
This incident hits close to home.
“I try to step in to be that big brother to try to make a change in their lives. So it hurts bad to see them want to retaliate, or to see a crime happen to the youth in our community, because they are our future,” Founder of Save A Life A Day William McFadden told FOX 17.
Police Chief Eric Winstrom told FOX 17 if other young people under the age of 18 are involved, adults may face consequences.
“If there’s a minor, where there’s a real possibility that the individual that had this gun was under the age of 18, even, that gun had to come from somewhere,” said Winstrom. “We know that kid didn’t walk into a gun store and legally purchase it. So we know more than likely that there’s an adult involved. We would trace once we get this gun. Once we recover it, we will certainly look to ‘Are there adults responsible as well?’”
The chief and Mijah agree: it’s time for a cultural shift.
“Because we’re seeing more and more people get the understanding that the culture that we’re embracing in the city of Grand Rapids is not one where we’re going to call it snitching when you come to police,” said Winstrom. “We want all of our 17-year-olds to be able to grow up without the fear of being shot.”
“They so big on ‘snitching.’ I’m 35 years old. Lord willing, I’ll be 35 years old January 16,” said Mijah. “I ain’t worried about none of that. I ain’t worried about none of that.”
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