On Friday night, the city of Detroit had its 19th annual tree lighting. The event usually draws large crowds downtown and has become a well-known tradition that people from all over the Detroit metro area attend.
This year, the event was marred with violence as there were two separate shootings near the tree lighting. One of the victims was only 15 years old and is now in critical condition.
Under Detroit’s Democratic leadership, the city has remained one of the most violent in the nation.
Detroit currently is the fourth most violent city in the nation, with 3.76 violent crimes per 1,000 people.
Michigan, led by Democrat Governor Gretchen Whitmer, has not fared much better.
Between 2020 and 2021, violent crime increased by 1% nationally.
In Michigan, violent crime increased by 4.7% while property crimes increased by 5.8%.
The Detroit News Reports:
Two people were shot Friday night in a pair of incidents downtown, not far from the city’s Christmas tree lighting event, police Chief James White said.
At around 10 p.m., hours after the tree was lit up in Campus Martius Park in front of a crowd of thousands, a group of youths got into an altercation, White told reporters. That resulted in a teen boy shooting a 15-year-old in the neck near the corner of Michigan Avenue and Griswold, he said.
The victim has been transported to a nearby hospital and was listed in critical condition, the chief said.
Police are asking any witnesses to contact them as they work to identify the shooter.
White said he’s confident with the number of cameras and witnesses that officers will have the suspect in custody soon.
It was one of two shootings reported near the tree lighting Friday evening.
Another young person was shot in the leg near the Buffalo Wild Wings on Randolph, blocks away from Campus Martius, the chief told reporters. He did not give other information on the incident.