GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Grand Rapids Police Chief Eric Winstrom says 19-year-old Alana Vasquez was shot and killed while attending a car meet-up near the intersection of Hall and Freeman on Sunday.
“At 1:30 a.m. this past Sunday, 19-year-old Alana Vasquez was killed while attending one of these so-called 'car meet-ups' in Grand Rapids. While this is an extreme example of what can happen at one of these intersection takeovers, we asked you to come today [Thursday] because we want the community to know what is happening at these events,” Chief Winstrom said.
Loved ones remembered Alana Tuesday night with a vigil. Luna Rivera was a close friend of Vasquez's. She describes the 19-year-old as an amazing woman who would come over daily to help her take care of her daughter.
But by Thursday, law enforcement issued a warning for those who think participating in these so-called "car meet-ups" is harmless. Chief Winstrom says he's heard people on body camera video claiming that they're doing "nothing wrong" while having these types of gatherings— while simultaneously having illegally possessed handguns in the backseat of their vehicles.
The meet-ups are perpetuated by social media, according to police.
“They’re often driven by social media in the attendance, and also the motivation to be there. The vehicles that we’ve encountered and arrests that we have made often have GoPro devices or other small camera systems actually installed on the vehicle,” Chief Winstrom explained.
He is hopeful that because of the amount of video footage collected at these types of events, someone has more information about how Alana was killed. He says his officers don't intend to go after people for things, like doing burnouts or having open alcohol at the gatherings, if they turn over video of the incident to police.
“We know that there is evidence out there of Alana’s murder that will help us and what we need to do again is ask for help,” Chief Winstrom pleaded.
The more than 20 locations, illustrated on the map below, are what law enforcement calls "problem areas" for these types of gatherings.
As you can see from the map, the problem is across Kent County, which is why other law enforcement agency leaders joined Chief Winstrom Thursday to discuss the problem. The Walker Police Department has seen issues with these types of meet-ups, too.
“We just had 200 vehicles come up Wilson the other day and take over Standale,” Walker Police Chief Keith Mankel said. “It’s not just Grand Rapids. The map kind of shows that. It happens in Walker. We get hundreds of calls on this."
GRPD says investigators are trying to track down the event organizers.
“We’re going to be taking a look at who’s organizing these things because it doesn’t happen organically. There are individuals who are getting on social media and saying, ‘meet at this location,’ and they know what’s going to happen. We’re long past time where they can say, 'I just wanted my friends to meet up. I didn’t know they were going to conduct this illegal activity,'" Chief Winstrom said.
If you have any information about Alana's death, contact Silent Observer where you always remain anonymous. You can call 616-774-2345 or submit a tip online.
