Fort Wayne's Eighth Homicide of 2008

When I first turned on the scanner early this morning, I thought the most interesting thing I’d have to write about would be the officer who declared he was unable to respond to a call because he was stuck in the drive-through at Taco Bell. I suppose he could have turned on his siren and tried to force the cars in front to move. But this was one o’clock in the morning, on a weekend, at Taco Bell. Most drunks don’t take well to being pushed around, especially when they're waiting on their food, so he probably would have needed to call for assistance to quell the riot that would have ensued. I guess it was better for him to just set there and wait for his tacos.

Then, at a little past two in the morning, a signal-113 (shots fired) was called in the 2800 block of Adams St. This is about a block south of the idiot circle where Wayne Trace and Pontiac meet. A minute later the dispatch called out that there had possibly been someone shot in the head at the Grand Saloon on Wayne Trace, just south of Pontiac Street. The information given was that the victim fled the scene in a white Pontiac Grand Prix or Bonneville.

Within five minutes of the signal-113 being called, the first officer was on the scene and reporting that there were gun shell casings and a lot of blood on the parking lot at the Grand Saloon. About two minutes later, something was going on at Maumee & Dubois St, but it was not exactly clear what was happening. At first, it sounded like there had been another shooting, but it turns out they had found the victim from the shooting at the Grand Saloon. There was another person in the vehicle who had apparently picked the victim off the ground after the shooting, threw him in the car, and drove away.

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A few minutes later, it was determined that the perpetrators were actually driving the white Pontiac. Witnesses said that the car drove up with four young black males all having their faces covered and opening fire on the victim.

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It is very confusing listening to the scanner sometimes. Just before this event at the Grand Saloon occurred, an officer reported finding a holstered gun lying on the ground, but I did not catch the location. He reported that there were several live rounds of ammunition as well as spent casings littering the ground. I am pretty sure this event had nothing to do with the shooting at the Grand Saloon. I think it was in response to shots fired earlier in the morning somewhere else.
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The shooting at the Grand Saloon prompted calls of shots fired from at least three different locations within the span of a couple minutes. At first it was not apparent that these all stemmed from the same incident. When you add to this the radio traffic that was still going on regarding the previous disturbance, it sounded for about five minutes as though the entire town had spontaneously erupted into gun fighting.

The gunshot victim from the Grand Saloon was taken to a local hospital and pronounced dead. He has not yet been publicly identified. He was twenty-eight years old, and is the city’s eighth homicide victim this year.

I drove by the Grand Saloon this morning and noticed that there is still a pool of blood on the parking lot. This surprised me as I assumed it would have dissipated by now. One of the owners of the Grand Saloon was pulling into the lot as I was about to leave, so I stopped to speak with him. He didn't know much about the shooting, but he said it was uncharacteristic for his bar. He acknowledged that things get a little rowdy sometimes, but not usually violent, and very seldom as deadly as this event turned out to be.

The Journal Gazette on-line appears to have nothing to say about this event.

Here is the story from the News-Sentinel on-line.

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During the past few weeks, I have spoken twice with a member of the FWPD command staff about the situation in my neighborhood. During that time, this same officer has been on my block at least three different times interacting with the guys on the street. I'm not sure exactly what he has said to them, but it seems to be working. For the past two weeks, each day becomes a little bit quieter than the previous one.

There is a strange correlation between what is happening in my immediate neighborhood and what is happening in other parts of the city. As my block has calmed down, other areas of Fort Wayne have erupted in deadly violence. I can't help but wonder if there is a connection. Maybe Officer Jefferson simply told these guys to take their problems somewhere else, and they did. Perhaps it would be better if I just left and let the dealers have their block back.