Footage

Yesterday night, I went downtown by the bridge to watch the Fireworks. There was a massive crowd. It was crammed so wall-to-wall not everyone could see. People were hot and restless.

After the fireworks, the tension was leading to several small fights. By Rosa Parks Circle, there was a band, We the Kings. Not long after the music was playing, a crowd started mobbing a nearby parking lot’s corner, seemingly for a fight. I didn’t get too near, maybe 30 feet away, but I followed my friend who was right up in there – THATS WHEN IT HAPPENED – like fireworks, which is all I would have guessed it was – except it was gun shots.

I don’t know if you’ve ever seen a crowd dissemble in panic: it’s a goddamn stampeding herd. I had to stand where I was to avoid trampling, pressed against an iron gate. A specific panic of death was in the air; I found my friend and her friends and we got out. Before I had walked nearly 3 blocks away, mind focused on the people I’m with to get to safety, I look over to see my own brother standing next to me at the cross walk. I had no idea he was even downtown.

Check out the police report: http://grcentral.wzzm13.com/news/news/update-two-shot-after-grand-rapids-fireworks/59376

“Police immediately began to evacuate the hundreds of people still in the area. Belk says that one of the victims was transported to Spectrum Butterworth by ambulance; the other was taken to the same hospital by friends.”

THIS IS A LIE. No one was on the scene for the initial shot. The police and the city were not prepared for the amount of people downtown.

In good news, GR pools open today.