We just got back as well. Had a great time on the river and the LSCN raft looked awesome from where we were anchored. Perhaps next year we will be able to raft up with everyone.
AS for the shooting. I didnt hear about it until I read it here first. Here is what teh freep has to say............
8 people wounded in Hart Plaza shootings
Melee erupts in crowd as Freedom Festival begins
June 24, 2004
FREE PRESS STAFF
Gunfire rang out in a Hart Plaza packed with fireworks fans Wednesday night, injuring at least eight people.
Four men and four women were shot at the intersection of Woodward and Jefferson in the minutes after the 46th annual Marshall Field's Target fireworks began just after 10 p.m., police said.
Reports that one victim died at the scene were premature, said Detroit Police Chief Ella Bully-Cummings late Wednesday. She said at least two people were in critical condition. The conditions of the other victims was uncertain.
Bully-Cummings said she did not know whether the shooter knew his victims and that the shootings were confined to a very small area.
The shootings sent crowds rushing from the intersection as the fireworks continued booming overhead. Police said an argument broke out, a man pulled out a gun and started shooting, then he dropped the gun and ran.
Sean Idowu, 22, of Detroit said his friend Louis Nelson, 22, also of Detroit, and Nelson's girlfriend were two of the victims.
"It wasn't even two minutes" into the fireworks, said Idowu. "The shooter fell to the ground and he started firing in all directions."
Police said they recovered the gun and had a good description of the suspect, who is 34 years old.
Bully-Cummings described the shootings as one unfortunate incident at a phenomenal fireworks display.
The violence shattered the pride city officials had expressed last week after a safe and secure Pistons parade along Jefferson.
On Wednesday night, it wasn't the shots -- muffled by the fireworks -- but the rushing crowds that signaled danger to those farther away. They picked up their blankets, grabbed children's hands and started heading for their cars.
Hyleah Clark, 17, of Inkster said she was standing underneath the Hart Plaza marquee when she heard four or five shots nearby. She looked over and saw one man down.
"I heard the shots and I saw the guy lying on the ground," she said as she left the area.
The crowds were so dense that emergency vehicles had difficulty reaching the victims. As soon as the show ended, police worked to move people safely out of the area.
During the 1991 fireworks show, a violent encounter between two white women and six black women was captured on videotape and broadcast around the nation.
Elaine Small, 45, of Dearborn Heights and Joanne Was, 43, of Farmington Hills were kicked and beaten and Was had a necklace stolen.
The melee came to symbolize black-white and city-suburban tensions after the tape was shown repeatedly on TV news programs.
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