Search for suspects still on after 1 killed, 11 hurt in shooting on Detroit basketball court
One man was killed and 11 others were hurt in a shooting at a neighborhood block party Saturday on Detroit's west side.
The two shooting suspects have not been caught. One of them had a silver handgun with an extended clip. Police say they continue to run into resistance from witnesses who just don't want to give up information out of fear.
On the same basketball court in which 19-year old Malik Jones was killed and the others were injured, community members gathered to provoke peace and change Monday.
"It is far easier in Detroit to get a weapon than it is to get a book," Rev. Charles William II of the National Action Network said at the gathering.
The National Action Network organized Monday's event to bring attention to the bigger picture, pointing out that those suspected in Saturday's shooting are not urban terrorists as previously described by Detroit's police chief, but are a product of bad urban policy.
"Terrorists have an ideology; they kill for a reason," said Rev. Williams. "These young people kill because they don't have options."
Those in attendance believe investing in community centers will help curb crime and strengthen neighborhoods.
The president of the Dexter Elmhurst Community Center Board, Helen Moore, says they had no idea about the block party that ended in some 47 shots being fired. If they had known, they could have possibly provided security.
"This is terrible what happened on our grounds," Moore said. "We are really upset about what happened. Children in strollers, and all that. We have got to do better."
Tia Perry lives in the area and has lost two brothers to murder. Neither has been solved. She hopes that will change, and so will all of this.
"Out of mind is the devil's workshop," Perry said. "Until we try and bring back some of these community centers and put them in the city Detroit, it's just going to keep going on and on and on."
There is a meeting at the Dexter Elmhurst Community Center at 11825 Dexter Ave. on Tuesday night at 6 p.m. Anyone with cares and concerns about what happened is encouraged to attend.