DETROIT (WXYZ) — Detroit's Building Department has issued a notice of code violations against a Prest Street house where three men were killed and four others were injured in a shooting Sunday morning, and a source says police were on the verge of raiding the property before the violence erupted.
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The shooting happened just after 7:20 a.m. Sunday at the house on Prest near Eaton. Police say the property was operating as an unlicensed after-hours strip club. The Detroit Police Department received seven calls for service at the house this year alone.
The property owner has 15 days to respond to the code violation notice.
A source tells me police were on the verge of raiding the house before the shooting that claimed the lives of three men and injured four others.
Teferi Brent with the Mayor's Office of Neighborhood and Community Safety says the escalation started over something trivial.
"What's happening in our community that two young ladies, two beautiful young ladies get into a fight over a cell phone that then compels them to possibly engage some male friends to come out and then they choose to resolve violence via gun violence?" Brent said.
Karondi Hernton, who lost three friends in the shooting, said he was not at the party that night.
"It's shocking because if I would've been here I would've been with them," Hernton said.
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"It's sad, man. I didn't, I didn't expect that all three of my friends would be the ones that, that this happened to over here," Hernton said.
Mandy Brown brought flowers and balloons to the scene to honor one of her friends killed in the shooting.
"I know senseless stuff be happening here in Detroit, but I just didn't wanna believe that it was Mike. I just seen him Friday. I hugged him Friday. I didn't know that was gonna be the last time I seen him," Brown said.
Isiah "Zeek" Williams, a community organizer with New Era Detroit, has taken his concerns about after-hours locations and the dangers they pose to neighborhoods to city council and has convened meetings with business owners to prevent this kind of violence.
"Once again, community, what type of people and places are we allowing into our neighborhood? This is something that should've never happened," Williams said.
"Everybody should have went home to their families. There's nothing that serious that we gotta have a mass shooting ... on Sunday morning at 7 a.m.," Williams said.
Mayor Mary Sheffield says the city is taking direct action against illegal operators.
"Everyone who lives in this city deserves a safe and peaceful neighborhood and any illegitimate business that is working or operating after-hours whether it be a business or a home, I will continue working with the chief to make sure we're cracking down on those establishments so we don't have the situation that took place the other day," Sheffield said.
Police are urging anyone with information about the shooting to come forward. You can call Detroit Police directly or remain anonymous by calling CrimeStoppers at 1-800-SPEAK-UP.
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