Cellphone buyer shot; sellers flee

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) - Tammy Irwin and her parents do a lot of transactions on Craigslist, including selling phones. When a man spotted the Irwin's ad and called them to offer a phone for sale, Tammy and her parents drove to meet the seller.

But they left hurriedly before buying the phone because they had a bad feeling -- a sense that the seller was up to no good.

A few hours later, another man came to the same spot for the same reason, but was shot in the hand.

Irwin told 24 Hour News 8 the seller refused to meet them in a parking lot and instead directed them to an apartment complex in the 2900 block of Marshall SE in Grand Rapids.

"He stood in the entryway of the apartment, but was on the phone. He would not leave his porch. And I kept saying we were in the car with the headlights on and he kept looking everywhere but to us," she said. "I just had a gut feeling something bad was going to happen. And I could tell by the tone of my dad's voice he could tell, too, this was not a good situation."

They left quickly and did not know until hours later a man was shot at the same spot.

Around 8:45 p.m. Tuesday, the buyer and seller met in that apartment complex parking lot. A third person carrying a gun, who was apparently working with the seller, approached the buyer and seller during the exchange.

A fight ensued and the buyer was shot in a hand, police said.

The seller and gunman ran from the scene.

Police say it's not the first time this robber has targeted a victim through Craigslist. On the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, police think the same man lured a potential phone buyer to a location on Grand Rapids' northeast side.

In that case, too, a second man approached, pulled a gun and robbed the buyer. But in that case, no gunshots were fired.