Two Thanksgiving shootings in South Bend leave one man dead, two women injured
SOUTH BEND — South Bend police are investigating a pair of shooting incidents on Thanksgiving that left one man dead and two women injured.
Police responded to the first shooting of the day around 2:45 p.m. in the 2700 block of Elwood Avenue, near LaSalle Intermediate Academy, after a ShotSpotter alert.
Upon arrival, South Bend Police Assistant Police Chief Eric Crittendon said, officers found a man dead and a woman injured. South Bend police logs list the deceased man as Saivon Jackson, 21, and the injured woman as 25-year-old Jaivon Berry.
Berry was sent to the hospital, and as of Thursday evening, Crittendon reported she was in surgery and her injuries were considered non-life threatening.
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Caution tape blocked off a portion of Kaley Street, where neighbors could be seen curiously looking out of their home windows. Police appeared to be investigating an outside area in an alley behind several homes on Elwood Avenue.
Crittendon said police are still investigating details as to what led to the shooting, speaking to witnesses in the neighborhood just across from the South Bend middle school.
“This seems to be an isolated incident from the information we gathered, and it appears there’s no threat to the public,” Crittendon said.
Later Thursday evening, police were again dispatched for reports of a shooting and car crash near Hollywood Place and Eastbrook Drive.
Kenny Freshour, who lives a few blocks south on Hollywood Place, said he was getting ready to put on a movie when he heard a loud bang from outside and saw that a vehicle had hit his own car, which was parked in the street.
A woman and five children then got out of the car and began "beating" on the doors of nearby houses, Freshour said, as he saw two men and a woman coming up behind the crashed car.
"She was hollering so I let her in because I didn't want the kids to be outside — they're in T-shirts," Freshour said. He added that once the woman was inside his house, he noticed she had a graze wound in her arm from a bullet, though he did not witness her being shot.
The woman who was following the car then approached the house, saying she was the children's mother, Freshour said. Patti Batton, who lives in the house with Freshour, said she eventually led the children around the back of the house and to their mother.
Police logs show one man was arrested in the incident and the woman who was shot was taken to the hospital. No formal charges had been filed as of Friday morning.
Batton said they hear gunshots once in a while, but have encountered "nothing like that," living in the area.
The South Bend Police Department's Violent Crimes Unit is investigating both shootings, which are unrelated.
Email Marek Mazurek at mmazurek@sbtinfo.com. Follow him on Twitter: @marek_mazurek
This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: South Bend Thanksgiving shootings died Hollywood Place Elwood Avenue
