Two Shot When Gunfight Erupts After Michigan High School Graduation

Gaines Township, MI – Two people were shot by five gunmen at the Crossroads Alternative High School graduation on Thursday evening.

The incident occurred at about 7:20 p.m. on May 19 just after the graduation ended at East Kentwood High School in Gaines Township, a suburb of Grand Rapids, WOOD reported.

Kent County Sheriff Michelle LaJoye-Young said graduation attendees were taking pictures and walking to their vehicles when a white Hyundai sedan pulled into the parking lot.

Sheriff LaJoye-Young said a window on the car went down, and someone inside the vehicle began shooting into the crowd, WOOD reported.

A group of people who had attended graduation began shooting back and the Hyundai fled.

The people who returned fire then jumped into a white Mercedes and left the parking lot, WOOD reported.

A 16-year-old boy from Texas and a 40-year-old woman from Grand Rapids were shot.

Both victims went to the hospital on their own, according to WOOD.

Sheriff LaJoye-Young said that the teen had been shot in the wrist.

He was treated and released from the hospital, according to WOOD.

The woman was shot in the abdomen and the wrist, according to the sheriff.

She was taken directly into surgery and was listed in critical but stable condition on Friday morning, according to WOOD.

The two victims were not related, according to The Detroit News.

“It would lead me to believe that, yes they did [have guns at the graduation],” Sheriff LaJoye-Young told reporters at a press conference on Friday morning.

The sheriff said investigators believed there were five gunmen and that the people in both suspect vehicles were known to each other.

She said the ambush appeared to be targeted, WOOD reported.

“There was a complete disregard for the safety of individuals who are unrelated to this connection to these two groups,” Sheriff LaJoye-Young told reporters.

The sheriff said deputies found the Mercedes in Grand Rapids.

The stolen Hyundai involved in the incident was found abandoned but still running behind a business on Kalamazoo Avenue near 60th Street SE, WOOD reported.

The sheriff said authorities believed the Hyundai might have been involved in other car thefts.

School officials said there were 60 students and countless family and friends at the high school for the graduation ceremony, The Detroit News reported.