Two people are dead and a third remains in critical condition after a shooting on South Bend’s northeast side late Saturday night — the second of two separate shootings the city saw within a span of roughly four hours, prompting Police Chief Scott Ruszkowski to say both could have been avoided entirely.
Timeline: Two Shootings, One Night
Around 7:30 p.m., Notre Dame Police received a report of a man pointing a gun at people near Eddy Street Commons, as thousands of fans packed the area for Notre Dame’s football game against Michigan State. Officers located someone matching the description but found he wasn’t armed. Despite that, gunfire broke out in the area, injuring two civilians and a South Bend police officer. Investigators believe the officer’s injury may have been caused by a ricochet. A woman suffered a non-life-threatening gunshot wound to her leg. Notre Dame, South Bend, and St. Joseph County police worked together to secure the scene, and a suspect in that shooting has not yet been identified.
About four hours later, at roughly 11:25 p.m., South Bend police were called to the 1300 block of Bissell Street — about a mile south of Notre Dame Stadium — for what was initially reported as a large fight. That call was quickly upgraded to a shooting. Officers arrived to find three people with gunshot wounds. As roughly 20 officers responded to the scene, they heard a single additional gunshot nearby.
Who Was Killed and Injured on Bissell Street
Police identified the three victims as 20-year-old Alaya Maez, 18-year-old Javon Hopper, and 22-year-old Geimisha Broadnax. Despite emergency efforts, Maez and Hopper were pronounced dead. Broadnax was transported to a hospital, where she remains in critical condition.
Authorities said the victims’ families have been notified. The South Bend Police Department’s Violent Crimes Unit is leading the investigation and has not yet released details about what led to the reported fight, the circumstances surrounding the gunfire, or whether a suspect has been identified.
“It’s Pure Stupidity”: The Police Chief’s Reaction
Addressing both shootings together, Chief Ruszkowski didn’t mince words about how preventable he believes the violence was:
“Both of them could have easily been avoided. It’s pure stupidity… this is tempers that could be controlled. Walk away, do whatever you have to do. Once you pull the trigger, you don’t get a do-over.”
His comments reflect frustration shared by a department that, within a matter of hours, had to respond to gunfire tied to a major sporting event on one side of the city and a fatal shooting rooted in an apparent altercation on the other.
What Happens Next
Both investigations remain active and separate — there’s no indication the two shootings are connected beyond occurring in the same city on the same night. Detectives are continuing to piece together what happened on Bissell Street before officers arrived, while investigators near Eddy Street Commons are still working to identify who fired the shots that injured the officer and the woman there.
Anyone with information about either shooting is asked to contact the South Bend Police Detective Bureau at 574-235-9263.
