MUSKEGON, Mich. (WOOD) — Muskegon police say they are working with federal investigators to try to arrest the person suspected of shooting and killing a man at a party Saturday night.
Muskegon Department of Public Safety Director Tim Kozal on Thursday did not release the name of the suspect, who he said may be on the east side of Michigan or out of state. He said the suspect’s family was also working with police to try to get him to give himself up.
“We’re hopeful that he’s going to wind up turning himself in,” Kozal said.
After deadly weekend, Muskegon groups aim to reduce violence The shooting happened around 10 p.m. in the area of Beidler Street and W. Forest Avenue.
“There was an individual that was unhappy with another individual. They wound up meeting up at this particular party. There was a very short interaction and the offender wound up taking the life of our victim,” Kozal said.
Carlos Piggee, 48, of Muskegon Heights, died at the scene.
“Our detectives worked pretty much nonstop,” Kozal said. “We were able to identify a suspect in the incident and we were able to get an open murder warrant for that individual.”
Kozal said the shooting did not involve drugs or gangs. Piggee and the suspect had known each other for a while.
“This is an instance where someone was just too angry and took out their frustrations, unfortunately, in an act of violence,” Kozal said.
“I think the biggest thing I take from this is when you have a disagreement with someone, let’s not just jump to violence,” he added. “We should be able to handle things with a conversation.”
Program works to intervene before Muskegon youth involved in violence He said the shooting was an isolated incident and not related to any other violence elsewhere in the Muskegon area over the weekend. He said that violence has been on a decline so far this year compared to last year.
“I think that has a lot to do with the collaboration that we have with our citizens, our neighborhoods,” Kozal said.
He pointed to a large National Night Out event in August, regular pop-up parties in neighborhoods and community conversations about race and policing. He was attending one such community night out Thursday night.
“We have to have those to hopefully reduce the anxiety of our citizens and make it more inviting for our visitors to come here,” Kozal said.
He said that seemed to have paid off in this case, saying many people cooperated with police and were comfortable talking to investigators.
Anyone with additional information about the shooting should call Muskegon police at 231.724.6750 or Silent Observer at 231.722.7463.
—News 8’s Adriana Doria contributed to this report.
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