Teen shot and killed at post-prom party in Porter County, Indiana, identified
A shooting at a post-prom party in northwest Indiana over the weekend left one teen dead and two others hospitalized.
A neighbor said the house where the shooting happened is a short-term rental.
The students attend Michigan City High School, where grief counselors were on Monday.
Gunshots rang out at the post-high school prom party around 11 p.m. on Saturday. The shooting left one teen dead. He has since been identified as 17-year-old Javon Townsend.
An 18-year-old girl and 17-year-old Jeremiah Heard were also shot.
The 17-year-old's mother says he had his second surgery on Monday after being shot in the diaphragm, but adds that both he and the 18-year-old are expected to make a full recovery.
Neighbot Mike Schnell, who lives just feet away from where the shooting happened, says it's left many people on this street in disbelief.
"I just came back to my house, and I sat on my couch and cried, you know, just for the sadness of everything," he said
He says it's always been a very quiet neighborhood until Saturday night. He didn't hear gunshots but saw someone light firecrackers in the street.
"I asked them what was going on, and they said a gathering," he said. "And then all of a sudden there was dozens of people just running everywhere."
He says one of the bullets went through the door of a home across the street. Schnell says the owner of the home where the party took place rents it on the weekends through Airbnb.
"He was crying, very remorseful. You know, he didn't do anything wrong," Schnell said.
He's worried for the victims and his neighbor, who's now left dealing with the aftermath.
"So my neighbor and I, we both have offered to help clean up a lot of the inside of the house was trashed from the party, and he has no party clause in his contracts," Schnell said.
He adds that what the community needs now is prayer for the victims, their families, and even the shooter.
In a statement, the Michigan City mayor asked the community to lead with compassion and humanity as police continue their investigation.
Still, no arrests were made.