Man,20, critically wounded on GR street

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) - A 20-year-old man is in critical condition after being shot on a Grand Rapids street Tuesday afternoon.

Around 1:30 p.m., Grand Rapids police were called to the intersection of Eastern Avenue and Bates SE to reports that a man had been shot.

"The call was that a subject was near the roadway trying to wave cars down to take him to the hospital," GPRD Capt. Eric Payne told 24 Hour News 8. "On arrival, we did locate the subject. He had been shot in the abdomen area."

The victim, who is listed in critical condition at a local hospital, did have to undergo surgery, Payne said. Police have not yet been able to question him about a possible motive for the shooting.

"We did canvas the area, and there were several witnesses out here that we are interviewing right now to try and get further information," Payne said.

There are no specifics about a suspect, but police do have one lead.

"At this time there is information of a green Jeep Cherokee with an out-of-state plate, but we are waiting to see," said Payne.

As they have in recent instances, GRPD asked for the public's help to find the perpetrator.

"If they know anything, give us a call. That's the only way we're going to solve it," Payne said.

Payne also commented on the recent wave of violence in the city. There are six homicides since Dec. 14 that remain unsolved.

"We believe in a lot of these cases, there are witnesses out there that can help provide us with the answers of what occurred at these incidents," Payne said. "What's frustrating is when we have witnesses that will not come forward. ... I understand their concern about talking with us, but hopefully we'll get over that at some point, and people will come forward more readily with the information."

Anyone with information about the shooting is asked to call GRPD at 616.456.3400 or Silent Observer at 616.774.23485.