Police investigating after shots fired incident in Eddy Street Commons Saturday night
SOUTH BEND,Ind. -- South Bend Police Department’s violent crimes unit is investigating shots fired near the Eddy Street Commons area on Saturday night. The department says no injuries were reported as of Monday afternoon, but five vehicles and two apartments were damaged from apparent gunfire.
Police say it happened around 10 pm on Saturday night in the 1100 block of Eddy Street.
Amber Goddard is the general manager of O'Rourke's Public House, a block north of the 1100 block. She says she’s never had a safety issue, and things are usually calm.
"We only know when there's a problem because everyone runs from that end of the block down this way, and then we realized that something was going on," said Goddard.
She says some areas were blocked off by police on Saturday after the incident but says people inside O'Rourke's felt safe.
According to police, parts of the Commons were blocked temporarily to investigate, but most of the restrictions were lifted once the game let out.
Goddard told ABC57 that there was another situation on Friday in the Eddy Street Commons area as well, at about the same time.
SBPD says there was a call around 11 pm Friday due to a report of shots fired near Eddy Street Commons. Officers checked the area and said it was a firework. SBPD tells ABC57 there were many juveniles in the area, and SBPD officers responded to help clear them out.
Ella Lautzenheiser, a PhD student living in the area who was at the Notre Dame football game, found out what had happened Saturday night over text.
"I actually didn't see the text 'til I got back to the Foundry. So that was a little scary, knowing that I walked down Eddy Street, and I wasn't aware of that until I got back home that night," said Lautzenheiser.
South Bend police say in this area, a disturbance of this level is not typical. Though police say there were disturbances during 2023's football season, there wasn't much outside of that.
According to SBPD, when there are tens of thousands of people in one area, their calls for service will typically rise because there are so many people.
Ahead of the Notre Dame-Purdue football game this weekend, SBPD says it's working with the University of Notre Dame police department to investigate and make sure residents and guests are safe on and near campus.
South Bend Police says its detectives are trying to speak with witnesses and process evidence right now.
Police say that while at least two people were detained during the initial investigation, no arrests have been made. Those who were detained have since been released.
Police ask that anyone who was in the Eddy Street Commons area during Saturday's disturbance reach out to their detective bureau, 574-235-9263. If you have video of the disturbance, you can send that anonymously via Crime Stoppers at this link: p3tips.Com/203.
SBPD reminds people that witnesses can anonymously call Michiana Crime Stoppers at 574-288-STOP.