DETROIT – Four people were shot early Tuesday morning after an argument turned physical in a parking lot in Detroit's Greektown neighborhood.
Gunshots erupted about 12:50 a.m. near Monroe Avenue and Beaubien Street. Police said what started as a conversation between four men escalated into a physical fight, then a gun fight. At least two people fired weapons. As many as 17 shell casings were marked on the ground by police.
Four men -- all in their 20s -- were shot, including at least one of the shooters. Three of them are in critical condition at the hospital and the fourth is in stable condition. One of the shooters also is in custody at the hospital.
Detroit police said the area is covered with surveillance cameras, making it easy for them to get a good idea of what happened during this shooting. Police wanted to stress this is not an ongoing problem in areas of Downtown Detroit, such as Greektown. However, there were two other shootings over the holiday weekend in Downtown Detroit.
"I think these are anomalies. We've never had issues like this in our Downtown area," said Detroit Police Assistant Chief Arnold Williams. "We look at these to be anomalies. But even saying that, we have our enforcement stepped up and we will continue to step up our enforcement to make sure we ensure the safety of everybody who comes to the Downtown area."
Williams said police believe they have everyone involved taken into custody along with the weapons used in the shooting.
"If you come Downtown and you have ill intentions, there will be consequences. With this, it just seems as if all parties involved somehow injured each other, and they're taken into custody and we have the weapons recovered. That's one option. The other outcome is that we just take everyone to jail once we find someone like this," said Williams.
Saturday night Greektown shooting
On Saturday night, shots rang out about 10:30 p.m. at the corner of Beaubien and Lafayette streets.
Authorities said a verbal dispute between three men escalated into a physical altercation. According to police, security from a local business tried to intervene and the suspects pulled out guns. Several shots were fired.
The men fled the area.
Police arrested a 22-year-old man and a 21-year-old man a short time later. Two weapons were recovered. Police said one of the weapons was recovered from one of the suspected shooters and he is a valid CPL carrier.
No injuries were reported.