After the shooting of two people outside of a high school graduation ceremony near Grand Rapids last week, authorities now say detectives have arrested two people believed to be involved.
The Kent County Sheriff’s Office said its detectives, with the help of the Michigan State Police and Livonia police, made a traffic stop in the Detroit suburb of Livonia on Friday and arrested the two men. A third person they detained might have also been involved in Thursday’s shooting outside of the stadium in Kentwood, and other suspects remain at large, the department said.
A 16-year-old boy who was shot in the wrist was released from a hospital and a 40-year-old woman who was shot in the abdomen was in stable condition, Sheriff Michelle LaJoye-Young said earlier Friday. She said investigators don’t know if the shooters and victims had any prior connection.
“This was an obviously brazen act,” LaJoye-Young said.
Several guns were recovered during the traffic stop, the sheriff’s office said. Sheriff Lajoye Young said she would not rule out that the shootings are connected to an uptick in gun-violence in Kent County in May.
“We have definitely seen an increase in violence across the greater (Grand Rapids) area, so it is very possible.”
The victims were shot outside of the East Kentwood High School stadium, where students from Crossroads Alternative High School were holding a graduation ceremony.
The sheriff said people drove up in a stolen Hyundai vehicle and began shooting after the graduation. People from the event who were apparently armed returned fire, the sheriff said.
The attackers fled in a Mercedes-Benz sedan. Police later recovered both vehicles.
