Two Shot During Mackenzie High School Reunion

[Zacha341]

"...Thousands of people were gathered for an alumni picnic when the shots rang out. Participants describe the scene as "chaos" as people heard the gunfire and scattered. One woman broke her wrist when she was trampled. Another woman had to be taken to the hospital for a panic attack.

A Detroit Police officer broke his leg chasing a suspect. Police tracked down and arrested two suspects and confiscated two guns. Two people were shot, one was a 17-year-old boy. The suspects are only being identified as two men, ages 19 and 22."

Read in full below:

http://www.myfoxdetroit.com/dpp/news...ng-20110626-rs

[Crumbled_pavement]

It's amazing the level of crime that still happens in a city that is damn near completely deserted.

[Meddle]

Soooooo, business as usual at McKenzie. Just a continuation of things that used to happen at DPS high schools in the 60s, 70s and 80s. I remember that being a fairly common thing before these things made national news.

[gazhekwe]

Sad. .....

[Zacha341]

It's my understanding that this is the first shooting during their alumni picnic event which has grown in popularity over the years being one of the more well attended summer alumni gatherings.

Soooooo, business as usual at McKenzie. Just a continuation of things that used to happen at DPS high schools in the 60s, 70s and 80s. I remember that being a fairly common thing before these things made national news.

[Buy American]

The lowlife rats in Detroit will continue to make their presence known everywhere in the City until the police come up with a new strategy to rid itself of the vermin. Cops need to get tougher, some laws need to be changed, judges need to be harsher in their punishments and more jails need to be built to lock them all up and give them only basic necessities to live.

[ejames01]

I would not be surprised if either one of the suspects even graduated from High School

[Supersport]

I'll agree with the point that the shooters likely didn't even graduate there, or even attend there for that matter. To say that this has never happened in the past is hardly a reasonable defense. We've been on patrol and had to assist with the clearing out of Central High School the last couple of years, and it's nothing short of a mess.

Last year, while assisting clear out the property at Central High, I told my partner "This is a shooting scene waiting to happen." We had already called for more cars for assistance, and minutes later, after we had already drove through the whole area clearing out people, shots rang out, while we were a good 100 yards away tops, along with multiple other scout cars. Same story "This has never happened before!" Maybe not, but anybody with half a brain would realize sooner or later, it was going to happen.

Granted, I grew up out in the country, small school with a graduating class of 65 students. Our first 10 year reunion was held at a friend's house, and most other classes either do the same, perhaps a bon fire, or at a local hall or restaurant. It's not an all alumni affair, and it's NEVER held on school property.

How is it that nobody, most specifically the super intendant or principal, have issue with throwing bashes on school grounds where drugs, alcohol, and guns are all present? This is perhaps one of the biggest problems with DPS in my opinion, that those in charge don't have a fuckin' clue how a GOOD, REPUTABLE school is to be ran. What type of responsibility does that show kids still attending this school?

Now I'm sure there are those that will wonder "Well, you're the police, why don't you don't something about it?" Well, we are usually notified of these events very short notice, if at all. Secondly, we may have 5-6 scout cars on patrol on a given night, which is no where near enough to deal with a crowd numbering in the neighborhood of a few thousand people, if not more.

I know that Central and Mackenzie aren't the only schools running these illegal parties each and every year. What else is disturbing is that judging by the alumni who attend, they don't view this gathering as a problem. Where I grew up, if somebody proposed a beer bash on school property, parents would be calling for somebody's head!

[HistoryNotHisStory]

The lowlife rats in Detroit will continue to make their presence known everywhere in the City until the police come up with a new strategy to rid itself of the vermin. Cops need to get tougher, some laws need to be changed, judges need to be harsher in their punishments and more jails need to be built to lock them all up and give them only basic necessities to live.

The question is who is willing to pay for additional Prisons in Michigan?

[HistoryNotHisStory]

I'll agree with the point that the shooters likely didn't even graduate there, or even attend there for that matter. To say that this has never happened in the past is hardly a reasonable defense. We've been on patrol and had to assist with the clearing out of Central High School the last couple of years, and it's nothing short of a mess.

Last year, while assisting clear out the property at Central High, I told my partner "This is a shooting scene waiting to happen." We had already called for more cars for assistance, and minutes later, after we had already drove through the whole area clearing out people, shots rang out, while we were a good 100 yards away tops, along with multiple other scout cars. Same story "This has never happened before!" Maybe not, but anybody with half a brain would realize sooner or later, it was going to happen.

Granted, I grew up out in the country, small school with a graduating class of 65 students. Our first 10 year reunion was held at a friend's house, and most other classes either do the same, perhaps a bon fire, or at a local hall or restaurant. It's not an all alumni affair, and it's NEVER held on school property.

How is it that nobody, most specifically the super intendant or principal, have issue with throwing bashes on school grounds where drugs, alcohol, and guns are all present? This is perhaps one of the biggest problems with DPS in my opinion, that those in charge don't have a fuckin' clue how a GOOD, REPUTABLE school is to be ran. What type of responsibility does that show kids still attending this school?

Now I'm sure there are those that will wonder "Well, you're the police, why don't you don't something about it?" Well, we are usually notified of these events very short notice, if at all. Secondly, we may have 5-6 scout cars on patrol on a given night, which is no where near enough to deal with a crowd numbering in the neighborhood of a few thousand people, if not more.

I know that Central and Mackenzie aren't the only schools running these illegal parties each and every year. What else is disturbing is that judging by the alumni who attend, they don't view this gathering as a problem. Where I grew up, if somebody proposed a beer bash on school property, parents would be calling for somebody's head!

True Words.

The party organizers are to insure security.

The DPS should have never approved an alumni party on schools grounds without proper security.

Finally. Close Mackenzie.

[Buy American]

The question is who is willing to pay for additional Prisons in Michigan?

I would much rather see a portion of the taxes that I pay go towards building prisons to keep vermin in and people safe than go to big businesses and frivolous spending that is going on today!

[Ray1936]

Curious. The Mackenzie graduating class of 1954 held a two-day reunion for their 50th anniversary in 2004. I attended. It was held at a banquet hall in Troy. The men were all dressed in suits and the ladies either had business attire or cocktail dresses. They looked wonderful; I wondered how they had not aged compared to the face I saw in the mirror every morning.

The reunion was a great success. The only shots that went down was at the bar. Here's the smaller group that also claimed Monnier School as their K-8. I'm the male furthest on the right.
Class. We had class. Sigh.

[Kevgoblue]

I think one of the problems is that these "open reunions" are supposed to be open to anyone who ever graduated from a certain school. Thus it's not a group of old friends. Rather just a huge open picnic / bbq.
Reunions should be restricted to a specific graduating class. Also, Mackenzie closed in 2007, so the 19 yr old suspect was obviously never a Mackenzie grad.

[BrushStart]

This shit is a community problem. I don't know what anyone can do to solve it. It's difficult to change a man once he reaches his 20s. Many of the recent shootings aren't even economically motivated, i.e. it's not over money or a robbery gone bad. It's over petty name-calling and machismo bullshit. There's nothing that more policing can do to stop this. Increasing punishment won't help either. These kids have no fear of punishment when they do this shit. No penalty is a deterrent because they have lost all sense of self-worth and the value of human life. There either has to be so much pressure on these kids in the communities in which they live that they are forced to adhere to normal human behavior, or alternatively people need to isolate them altogether and let happen what may. It's very sad. These two kids will be going to prison for decades, and for what? To prove how tough they were? Like so many who came before them, they will sit and rot away. No more leisurely summer afternoons, no more laughs with friends and family, no more home-cooked meals, no more comfy bed, no more trips out to eat, no more basking in the joy of personal autonomy and freedom, no more dreams for what the future holds. Now, you tell me, was it worth it?

[Hypestyles]

...hopefully the victims will recover..
..what, if anything, is the building used for now? what can it be converted to..

[Det_ard]

...hopefully the victims will recover..
..what, if anything, is the building used for now? what can it be converted to..

Convert it to a prison? Then they can hold alumni events non-stop.

[Meddle]

It's my understanding that this is the first shooting during their alumni picnic event ....

Didn't say anything about the Alumni events directly. I said it was a continuation of the tradition of the 60s, 70s and 80s in DPS. I'm guessing SuperSport wasn't working back then. Maybe Ray was. Uniforms didn't go into a DPS high school one or two at a time. They went in ten or twelve at a time from different doors to cover all possibilities.

You know how a lot of suburban high schools now have 'resource officers' [[aka police officers)? We had an armed DPD officer in Cerveny in the late 60s.

[trstar]

This shooting had nothing to do with the reunion. Some neighbor "hoods" extended their beef to the peaceful picnic.

I think its important to keep the picnic onsite. A neighborhood high school reunion IN the neighborhood.

[Zacha341]

Ohhh, that was just mean! I went to Murray-Wright so I guess I will just smile as we where arch rivals to MK.....

Convert it to a prison? Then they can hold alumni events non-stop.

[Zacha341]

I hear that, Murray-Wright high had DPD officers back in the mid-late 70's during my time there, but they did not have to deal with this much. They were often just a friendly fixture for the occasional stuff. Not to say it was not rough - this was the era of the Coney-Onlys gang et al or what ever they were called...

Didn't say anything about the Alumni events directly. I said it was a continuation of the tradition of the 60s, 70s and 80s in DPS. I'm guessing SuperSport wasn't working back then. Maybe Ray was. Uniforms didn't go into a DPS high school one or two at a time. They went in ten or twelve at a time from different doors to cover all possibilities.

You know how a lot of suburban high schools now have 'resource officers' [[aka police officers)? We had an armed DPD officer in Cerveny in the late 60s.

[DetroitPole]

You could hold a bris here and there is a good chance some hoodlums would light up the place.

[Cincinnati_Kid]

I hear that, Murray-Wright high had DPD officers back in the mid-late 70's during my time there, but they did not have to deal with this much. They were often just a friendly fixture for the occasional stuff. Not to say it was not rough - this was the era of the Coney-Onlys gang et al or what ever they were called...

That would be the "Sconey Oneys"

[msamslex]

...hopefully the victims will recover..
..what, if anything, is the building used for now? what can it be converted to..

Mackenzie is being rebuilt and will be K-8 with students coming in from Parker and Barton. Scheduled to open in 2012. Parker is on Meyers and Barton is on the corner of Joy Rd. and Ohio. Ironically the final groundbreaking was held the day of the picnic. Construction has already begun.

I'm a Mackenzie alumni [[wasn't at the picnic though) and am glad to see the sight finally being built up. I was saddened every time I drove by to see the building just sitting there, very eerie especially at night.

[Danny]

I wonder those suspects who did the shooting at MacKenzie High School Reunion are from Cody High School? MacKenzie and Cody were bitter rivals back then that a shoot out had happen after their basketball and football games.