Detroit — Teen violence broke out again in downtown Detroit on Sunday night, including large brawls and the nonfatal shooting of a 14-year-old, according to multiple reports.
Detroit Police Chief Todd Bettison told reporters that a 14-year-old had been shot, while there were several reports of fights, including an account from a Detroit police commissioner who has been critical of Mayor Mary Sheffield’s six-point plan to steer young people away from trouble by providing them officially sanctioned positive activities.
“Around 500 teens engaged in a large brawl in downtown Detroit today,” Commissioner Darious Morris posted to Facebook at about 10 p.m. Sunday.
Morris added that Sheffield’s attempts to quell teen violence is a “failed solution.”
According to Detroit police radio dispatches, calls went out about 10 p.m. reporting that hundreds of teens had flooded the area around Woodward and Gratiot. It was unclear if they had headed downtown for Game 7 of the NBA Eastern Conference Semifinals at Little Caesars Arena, in which the Detroit Pistons lost to the Cleveland Cavaliers, 125-94.
At about 10:15 p.m., an officer at the scene requested an ambulance for a man who’d been beaten.
“There was an assault that took place,” the officer told the dispatcher, according to audio posted to broadcastify.com. “There’s just a ton of teenagers down here continuing to make the same issues. There was an earlier assault. This individual is losing consciousness … he’s lying in the middle of the road. I’d like to get somebody as soon as I can.”
The dispatcher told the officer she’d make the request a priority.
In a separate incident Sunday night, a 14-year-old was shot near the Gucci store downtown and sustained non-life threatening injuries, police said. Bettison told media outlets that at about 9:40 p.m. Sunday, police learned that a teen was shot in the chest. Bettison said a community violence intervention worker was in the area and began first aid.
The injured teen was expected to recover, the chief said.
Bettison said it appeared two groups of teens came together on Library Street, just off of Grand River Avenue, and an altercation occurred. A weapon was drawn and fired shots, striking the 14-year-old, he said.
A 16-year-old and a 17-year-old were in custody, and police have recovered a weapon. He said the two teens will “be held accountable.”
“And their parents are going to be held accountable as well,” he said.
Detroit has a youth curfew: for those 15 and under, it’s 10 p.m. and 11 p.m. for 16- and 17-year-olds.
Following a “teen takeover” of downtown in early April that was marred by brawls, Bettison held a press conference with the 16-year-old organizers of the event and vowed to provide more constructive activities for the city’s young people.
The night after the April 10 press briefing at the Butzel Family Recreation Center, downtown again was flooded with teens — and chaos. The incidents included the attempted robbery of a 19-year-old Van Buren Township man who was chased through a jeering crowd on Woodward Avenue until a Detroit Police Department cruiser appeared on the scene. Gunshots were reportedly fired near Campus Martius.
Commissioner Morris called Sheffield’s comments “an insult.”
Bettison and Sheffield unveiled a six-point community safety plan that stresses working with the community, especially focusing on creating relationships between the police and the city’s young people.
Among the plan’s parts are a “DPD Safe Summer Strategy” that targets drag racing, drifting, block party compliance and crowd control as well as creating productive youth-centered events.
Supporters of Sheffield’s plan praised the mayor and police chief for working with the city’s youths to find solutions, while critics accused them of sending the wrong message to lawbreakers and ignoring the concerns of business owners, residents and visitors.
ghunter@detroitnews.com
(313) 222-2134
@GeorgeHunter_DN
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Hundreds of teens brawl in downtown Detroit: Reports
Reporting by George Hunter and Anne Snabes, The Detroit News / The Detroit News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
