GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — Two men were arrested with three handguns and an AR-15 after a recent high school graduation in Grand Rapids, the police chief says.
“Masked individuals, armed to the teeth that weren’t there to celebrate a graduation: There’s something very wrong there and something very, very scary,” Grand Rapids Police Department Chief Eric Winstrom said.
It happened Thursday at Calvary Church on the East Beltline near Bradford Street NE, which was hosting a graduation for Link Learning. Based out of Berrien Springs but with satellites elsewhere, Link is a virtual high school for kids who have dropped out or are at risk of not completing high school.
Winstrom said his department sent a sergeant to the event because it drew so many people. The goal was to have a visible presence and walk around to make sure everything seemed normal. But a small group of people caught the sergeant’s attention.
“(They) were wearing balaclava masks, surgical masks, I believe one had a surgical mask and a hood up, sitting in an area together. And while other people seemed to be celebrating this great graduation occasion, these individuals were acting in a way that made this sergeant suspicious,” Winstrom said.
He said they didn’t seem to be paying any attention to the ceremony and then lingered in the back of the room after it was over.
“Not acting the way that people generally act when they’re at a high school graduation,” Winstrom said.
Later, they were moving people and bags between vehicles, Winstrom said. The sergeant ultimately pulled over the car for a vehicle violation, though the chief didn’t say exactly what that violation was.
“One of the passengers immediately ran from the vehicle. Officers chased this individual several hundred feet. They were able to tackle him,” Winstrom said. “He had a bag on him with not only a handgun, but also an AR-15 in the bag.”
He said another passenger “refused to cooperate with police and ended up fighting with police,” and was found with two more handguns.
The two were jailed. Shyon Armstrong and Anthony Laster, both 19, were arraigned Friday on charges of carrying a concealed weapon and resisting and obstructing police. Bond was set at $50,000 each. Two other people in the car were not charged.
“What were they going to do with those firearms? We’re not sure because they were apprehended before they were able to do anything,” Winstrom said.
Armstrong and Laster were not Link students, Winstrom said, and it’s unclear why they were at the graduation. It’s also unclear whether the guns were ever actually in the church, the chief said. He said police are still looking into where the guns came from, though he noted one had a scratched-off serial number.
“These are not legally possessed guns. These are not concealed carry (license) holders that went through the class and have them. So the fact that they’re wearing masks in a high school graduation where they do not have a relative graduating from, on its face, it seems like it would be for some other nefarious purpose, even if it’s just to scare people,” he said.
Calvary Church Director of Operations Donald Tuuri said the church has rented out its space to Link for the last few years. Tuuri said Calvary hosts graduations for several schools and requires them to organize their own security. Saying the church was extremely disappointed by what happened, Tuuri said it will reevaluate whether it will host graduations in the future. It is weighing its desire to be a good neighbor against the risk.
Winstrom credited the arrests to GRPD’s “high-visibility presence” at the event and praised the sergeant’s “proactive policing.”
“That sergeant was so proactive as to say, ‘You know what, this just doesn’t seem right to me. I want to take those further investigatory steps.’ I think that the sergeant did a great job,” Winstrom said.
He promised a “tenacious” response to gun violence, especially as the weather warms, which typically coincides with a rise in crime.
“There are too many guns on the street and too many guns illegally possessed on the street … with more and more of a brazen feel to it,” Winstrom said. “The fact that they thought that they could freely drive around the city of Grand Rapids and not worry about getting caught with that is something that we need to change that narrative and we need to let people know that: Do not carry an illegally possessed gun in Grand Rapids, because we will hold you accountable.”
Winstrom told News 8 on Monday that his officers have taken around 160 illegally possessed handguns off the streets so far this year — many from the hands of kids. Joining the U.S. attorney for the district recently to kick off a summer gun violence crackdown, the chief said illegally possessed guns can be used in as many as 12 criminal incidents.
