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CRIME

Incident that kills 16-year-old marks 13th shooting in South Bend since start of April

South Bend Tribune

SOUTH BEND — A 16-year-old who was shot Monday afternoon on Fellows Street died from his injuries in the hospital.

The boy, Edwardo Rivera, was one of three people shot Monday in South Bend and his death marks the 13th reported shooting, and the third fatal shooting, in the city since the beginning of April.

“I know many of the people out here, and they are frustrated,” said South Bend Police Chief Scott Ruszkowski on Monday at the scene on Fellows Street. “When the weather gets better, more people get outside. When more people go outside, there’s more opportunity for paths to cross.”

Ruszkowski made similar comments at a town hall last week when he and other community members met to address an increased number of shootings in the first week of April.

Those at the forum last week spoke on the need to engage with a wider range of people in the South Bend community in order to curb the violence.

“What about the people who don’t care and how do we reach those people? That is what the crux of this is all about,” Ruszkowski said on Thursday.

At the time, police were investigating 10 shootings since the start of April. As of Monday, there are three more shooting victims.

Police say officers responded to a house on Fellows Street a little after 3:45 p.m. Monday for reports of a shooting. Officers arriving on scene found two juveniles shot, one on the side of the house and another in a nearby alley.

Investigators believe a male suspect ran away and ask anyone with information about the incident to call the St. Joseph County Metro Homicide Unit at 574-235-5009 or Crime Stoppers at 574-288-STOP. No arrests had been made by Tuesday afternoon, according to a homicide unit spokeswoman.

An autopsy for Rivera is scheduled for today.

Police have not identified the juvenile who survived the shooting but said the 17-year-old is still in stable condition.

Indiana Public Access Counselor Luke Britt said that state code requires police logs to state the date, time, location and the names of victims of suspected crimes officers respond to within 24 hours of the incident.

Victims of sex crimes are one exception and are kept confidential under state law.

A South Bend schools spokeswoman said both victims were former students at Riley High School.

South Bend police were also called to a reported shooting in the 300 block of North Huey Street around the same time on Monday, where police learned the victim had a non-life threatening gunshot wound to the arm and went for treatment to Memorial Hospital.

Police later got a description of a vehicle from the Huey Street scene and spotted it on LaSalle Avenue near Saint Joseph High School. Officers pursued the vehicle and it drove into a ravine on Angela Boulevard across from Compton Family Ice Arena before police apprehended three people, one adult and two juveniles, who reportedly ran from the vehicle.

As of Tuesday afternoon, no charges had been filed in connection to the incident.

Monday’s events bring the number of criminally assaulted shootings in South Bend this year up to 35, eight of which were fatal. Criminally assaulted shootings do not include accidental shootings or suicides.

At this time last year, South Bend police reported 36 shootings, nine of which were fatal.

“We have to make a decision that we will not have another year like we had last year,” said Common Council member Canneth Lee at Thursday’s town hall.

Some of the recent shootings include: a 6-year-old who suffered minor gunshot wounds near Beacon Heights Apartments on April 3; Lateisha Burnett, 28, who was fatally shot in the 1200 block of West Dunham Street in the early morning hours of April 1; and 31-year-old David Austin, who was fatally shot near the intersection of Donald and Webster streets on April 3.

Metro homicide investigators continue to work both cases.

There have also been shootings reported on West Bertrand Street, Huey Street and the intersection of Lincoln Way West and Olive Street this month.

Of the 13 shootings since April 1, the majority have occurred in the west and northwest portions of the city, though Monday’s homicide took place a few blocks north of Riley High School and two people were taken to the hospital after being shot on North Frances Street last week.

Police have said some of the recent shootings may be gang-related, though detectives are still working through leads.

On Thursday, Ruszkowski said the recent violence is negatively affecting the community as well as police officers.

“There’s no way we can do that, physically, emotionally; it’s getting next to impossible,” he said. “The community, as well, is suffering from these psychological traumas that are going on. Imagine if that was your neighborhood, right in front of your house.”

Mazurek

Police investigate at the scene of a shooting Monday in the 1500 block of Fellows Street in South Bend.