At least four people were injured Tuesday evening when two separate shooting incidents broke out near a Michigan school where local police had been stationed after being tipped off about a possible altercation that stemmed from a fight the week before. The incidents occurred around 9:30 p.m. after a basketball game at Muskegon Heights High School, reported Michigan Live.
A male and two females were shot near the school's football stadium, while another suspect was shot by a sheriff's deputy in the main parking lot.
Muskegon Heights Police Chief Joseph Thomas, Jr., said his officers, along with the help from the Muskegon County Sheriff's Office and Michigan State Police, had set up a watch at the game between Muskegon Heights and Grand Rapids Ottawa Hills after being alerted that the group was looking to settle a score related to a previous fight in Grand Rapids.
The group came as expected and after being kept out of the game, they went to a parking lot by the football field.
At that point, one of the suspects pulled out his weapon and pointed it at a deputy, despite being warned to drop the firearm, prompting him to do "what he was trained to do," and resorted to force, according to USA Today.
"Between the Muskegon Heights Police Department, The Sheriff's Department and the Michigan State Police, we did everything we could to stop this from happening," Thomas said. "I think it would have been worse if we wouldn't have been here."
Not much is known about the other shooting, other than the fact that it involved another suspect being shot by a sheriff's deputy.
All four of the victims involved were taken to Mercy Health Muskegon's Hackley hospital to be treated for non-life threatening injuries, reported NBC News.
In the meantime, Thomas has warned the public that law enforcement will not tolerate violence of this ilk in the future. "You're not going to take over this area. You're not going to take over this county. We're going to stop you by any means necessary," he said.
