If this is not on everybody's radar, it needs to be this is a huge story. Michigan DEA forces broke into a 20 year old student's apartment shooting him in the chest after he shielded his eyes from the police officer's flashlight. The student is recovering in the hospital and the State Police and the Sheriffs office are investigating the incident as a criminal investigation.
Students have begun protesting the event calling this another example of the drug war violence and horrible policy.
Full Coverage including multiple stories, oppinions and blogs:
hxxp://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/index.ssf/gvsu_shooting/
Initial story: hxxp://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/index.ssf/2009/03/grand_valley_student_shot_whil.html
Grand Valley State University student shot while police execute search warrant in his Campus View apartment, school says
by Nate Reens | The Grand Rapids Press Thursday March 12, 2009, 7:20 AM
Dave Odette | The Grand Rapids Press
ALLENDALE TOWNSHIP -- A Grand Valley State University student was shot in the chest Wednesday night while police executed a search warrant at his off-campus apartment, according to school officials.
Investigators Wednesday night refused to say if the injured student shot himself or was shot by authorities in the 9 p.m. incident at Campus View Apartments. But a source with knowledge of the investigation said this morning that authorities indicated they believe the shot came from a police officer.
The 20-year-old student was in stable condition at Spectrum Health Butterworth Hospital, police said.
The shooting caused police to lock down the building, but residents were not evacuated and were never in danger, state police Capt. Gary Gorski said.
Authorities released little information, but GVSU's Website said police were entering the student's apartment at 10255 42nd Ave. at the time of the gunfire.
Gorski said the warrant was part of a drug investigation conducted with the Ottawa County Sheriff's Department and other agencies.
"(This is) an isolated incident," Gorski said. "(It) started out as a drug investigation, a search warrant was conducted, which resulted in a shot being fired."
Residents who live in the three-story building said they did not hear gunshots or a commotion. They were unaware of the shooting until several police arrived to probe the incident on the north wing of the first floor.
Several residents in the complex complained they were not told what was happening in the hours after the shooting.
"Yikes, that's insane," said Kent Winters, a 20-year-old sophomore. "Man, I'd never think of anything like that happening around here. It's quiet."
Winters lives on the south side of the first floor. He was informed of a shooting third-hand.
"I would have liked to have known," he said.
The suspect's identity has not been released by authorities, but residents in the complex called him a "nice guy."
Joe Putra lives across the hall from the 20-year-old, who has at least one other roommate. The suspect was in his second year living in the building, Putra said.
"When I moved in, he came and asked if I needed any help with anything," Putra said. "I'd see him out back when we were barbecuing. He was a nice guy."
Putra said the suspect, who often played the guitar and frequently carried the instrument around campus, built a large snow fort this winter in the back of their building.
Shawn Driggers, who lives in a different Campus View building, was going to
work out in the complex's exercise facility when multiple police cars caught his attention.
Driggers, a sophomore studying finance and marketing, believes the area is safe despite what happened Wednesday.
"I never got the sense of urgency or of danger, and I don't think that's going to change," Driggers said. "You can't live being scared about your safety 24/7."
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