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MONDAY, DECEMBER 13, 2010
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GUNS GONE BAD: A PRESS INVESTIGATION
MAKING THE ROUNDS A SINGLE WEAPON’S ODYSSEY: ONE DEAD, THREE WOUNDED, TWO CLOSE CALLS BY JOHN AGAR
TIME TO CRIME
THE GRAND RAPIDS PRESS
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RAND RAPIDS — The handgun had already been involved in three shootings before Torrence Hopson, a Grand Rapids college student, was shot in the neck and killed for $10 in his pocket. Eight days later, a driveby shooter used the same gun to fire into a house on Adams Street SE. The gun is still on the streets. How it got there and where it is now is anybody’s guess. But ballistic tests and modern science provide a gripping portrait of its violent past.
Spent cartridges and bullets entered into a computer database have linked the gun to five crimes over a bloody 10-month stretch. Three incidents were less than a month apart. Then, nothing for the past five years. “If you’ve got a gun that’s got a murder on it, you’re getting rid of that gun,” said retired Grand Rapids Police Detective Phil Betz, who solved Hopson’s 2005 death. “That gun now is really, really hot.” Every gun seized by Grand Rapids police is immediately submitted to state police for testing in its Integrated Ballistic Identification System. Police also enter serial numbers into eTrace, a program run by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. It tells when and where a handgun was made, shipped and sold. IBIS is similar to a fingerprint database. Digital photos of fired bullets and cartridge cases are taken by computerized equipment. The system finds and ranks possible matches. Analysts then compare “hits” on a computer, verifying similarities, before putting the evidence under a microscope. That’s how the five Grand Rapids shootings were linked. One state police lab is in Grand Rapids, at 720 Fuller Ave. NE, but there is concern that guns recovered farther away are brought there infrequently, particularly by departments that have long drives. Local police did not want to criticize other agencies, but some privately worried critical evidence may not be available for serious crimes. “A lot of police departments receive guns and don’t trace them, that
The police term refers to how long a weapon disappears before resurfacing in the wrong hands. For each day of this series, gun traces and Press research detail the firearms’ stories.
Nov. 7, 2004: Two men are wounded outside the Howlin' Moon Saloon, 141 28th St. SE. Police find .380 casings, ca but no gun.
One gun, five shootings
June 1, 2005: A group accosts a teen and her male friend outside Grace Christian Reformed Church, 100 Buckley St. SE. They hear gunshots and laughter while fleeing in their car.
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Ballistics tests show five separate shooting incidents, including a homicide, are linked to a single gun that remains at large.
BY RICK WILSON
Gun: Taurus Millennium PTIII 9 mm Luger Disappeared: Shortly after bought. April 12, 2001. Time to crime: Three years, eight months, 11 days.
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Aug. 21, 2005: Five shots are fired outside the Orbit Room, 2525 Lake Eastbrook Blvd. SE, striking a man once in the back. The shooter is sent to prison. The gun is not found.
Sept. 10, 2005: College student Torrence Hopson, 21, is fatally shot during a robbery at Commerce Avenue SE and Wealthy Street. A suspect is convicted, but the gun was never recovered.
Sept. 18, 2005: Shots are fired into a house at 1021 Adams St. SE. Ballistics tests indicate it is the same weapon used in the four previous shootings.
READ THE STORY BEHIND THE GUN: A8 is true,” said Benjamin Hayes, chief of the ATF’s National Tracing Center in West Virginia. In some cases, the objective is simply to get a gun off the street. “If I’m a police officer (and) take a gun, the guy’s arrested — I don’t really care where the gun came from. I have the (suspect), the gun. I have a lot of things going on,” Hayes said. He and local police acknowledge smaller departments also have cost considerations. Driving a gun to the lab could take half an officer’s shift. “A lot of departments don’t have a lot of people,” Hayes said. “Every police department is different.” Still, the IBIS search does not cost local police agencies, although there are guidelines for submitting guns to testing. “We offer the service to any governmental law enforcement agency; they decide if the serSEE GUNS, A8
Suit says state is obligated to fund foster care services THE GRAND RAPIDS PRESS
The gun used by an accomplice of the man who shot Officer Jason Lowrie.
Details: The gun was one of two used in a violent rampage on Dec. 12. 2004, that led to a police officer’s shooting. The gun that shot Officer Jason Lowrie remains at large.
Kent pushes back against mandate
ABOUT THIS SERIES SUNDAY: A Press investigation shows how legitimate guns end up on the street — and get used in violent crimes. TODAY: One gun has been used in five shootings in Grand Rapids — and it’s still on the streets.
TUESDAY: Ride along with Grand Rapids officers on a federal task force aimed at getting guns off the streets. WEDNESDAY: A look at some gun stores that have been hit by thieves repeatedly — and the surprising places some of those guns have turned up.
REPORT ILLEGAL GUNS: 616-774-2345
SANTA GIRLS: WHY I GIVE
GRAND RAPIDS — In what legal experts say could be a precedent-setting case, state officials recently answered a lawsuit filed by Kent County alleging the Michigan Department of Human Services violated state law in refusing to pay for services required under a 2008 federal court order. The 2008 Children’s Rights settlement required the state to increase monitoring of children in foster care after a series of high-profile abuse cases, including the 2005 murder of 7-year-old Ricky Holland by his adopted mother. The settlement reached by the state without input from Michigan counties will cost Kent County taxpayers an estimated $4 million yearly, county officials allege. The legal action comes as an independent agency appointed to monitor the state’s moves toward compliance with the settlement issued a report last week critical of state efforts so far. It said while some progress has been made, “DHS leadership has increasingly fallen behind and, worse, lost ground on important fronts.” The group is considering whether to ask a federal judge to appoint a receiver to take over the state’s child welfare system until improvements are made but, at this point, is willing to give Gov.-elect Rick Snyder’s administration a chance to make the court-ordered reforms. Among the shortcomings cited in the report are continued high case loads and a failure to recruit and retain enough foster homes. The Children’s Rights settlement requires smaller case loads for case workers and increases age limits under which county officials must provide certain services for children, among other things. Dan Ophoff, Kent County’s inhouse counsel, said officials here have tried unsuccessfully for two years to convince the state DHS officials they should pay for the additional services. Kent County claims the added monitoring reached under the Children’s Rights settlement violates the 1978 Headlee Amendment, which says the state cannot mandate additional services without providing funding for them. SEE MANDATES, A2
WHY DO YOU GIVE? E-mail your Santa Claus Girls memories to localnews@grpress.com.
T.G.I. Fridays downtown will host a “bartender flare” exhibition fundraiser at 8 p.m. Saturday, with a portion of proceeds going to the Santa Claus Girls. Also, for any donations all day to the Press-sponsored charity, customers get a free dessert or appetizer card. Said bar manager Phil Hoffman:
Donate easily online or learn more at santaclausgirls.org. Santa Claus Girls is a Press-sponsored charity that, since 1908, has aimed to ensure no child in Kent County is without a Christmas gift. Last year, thousands donated $179,504, and 13,460 children received presents.
“I CAN’T IMAGINE WHAT IT WOULD BE LIKE TO BE A KID AND NOT GET ANYTHING FOR CHRISTMAS. IT’D BE NICE TO THINK THAT SOME CHILDREN OUT THERE WON’T HAVE TO IMAGINE IT EITHER.”
See page A2 for ways to help and today’s list of donors.
PRESS PHOTO/KATY BATDORFF
©2010, The Grand Rapids Press
Advice/Puzzles ............B2 Business .....................A13 Classified Ads ..............C8 Comics......................... B4
INDEX Daily Briefing.............A14 Deaths .........................A11 Lottery..........................A2 Opinions.....................A15
Region..........................A3 Sports........................... C1 TV/Weather ................C12 Your Life .......................B1
Icy roads won’t be cleared soon, A3 Lions hang on to beat Packers, C1
Check out our electronic version: grpress.com/eedition
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GUNS GONE BAD: A PRESS INVESTIGATION
MONDAY, DECEMBER 13, 2010
THE GRAND RAPIDS PRESS
TIME TO CRIME: STILL UNKNOWN
‘TOO MANY PEOPLE THAT DON’T CARE HAVE GUNS’ MOTHER WHO LOST SON SHARES CONCERN FOR OTHERS PRESS FILE PHOTO
BY JOHN AGAR THE GRAND RAPIDS PRESS
On exhibit: Grand Rapids Police Officer Jason Lowrie points to blood stains on his vest during his 2006 testimony in the Otis Nelson trial.
GRAND RAPIDS — As her son lay dying after being shot in a holdup, Theresa Smith held close at his bedside. She knew he didn’t have long. He no longer breathed on his own. “I said, ‘I love you so much,’” she recalled recently, her voice quavering. “I kind of apologized for anything I hadn’t done as a mother. I let him know I knew he wasn’t coming back to me.” Then she told her son, a singer and a Grand Rapids Community College student: “You are going to be in God’s choir now.” Torrence Hopson, 21, was killed by a man looking for cash for the bar. He took $10, then shot Hopson in the neck BY JOHN AGAR THE GRAND RAPIDS PRESS on Sept. 10, 2005. Hopson died a week later. GRAND RAPIDS — The 9 mm Police arrested the killer, who is Luger was stolen soon after it was serving life in prison, but the gun has purchased for $500 at Al & Bob’s not been found. Ballistics have linked Sports. it to four other shooting incidents. “I don’t think I ever shot a round Smith said these tragedies play out out of it,” its owner recalled. far too often, particularly in urban He didn’t know what ultimately areas where illegal weapons seem to happened to his gun. If it was used in Michael Jackson Otis Nelson abound. a significant crime, the 64-year-old “There’s too many guns, and too figured he would have heard. Lowrie responded to a Dec. 22, many people that don’t care have 2004, report of armed robbers hold- guns,” she said. He hadn’t. Three years, eight months and 11 ing a family hostage at 1951 Francis It has been a hard recovery, she days after the owner’s daughter stole Ave. SW when the robbers ran out a said. Her husband, Leslie, struggles with their son’s loss. the Luger during troubled times, Mi- back door. chael Jay Jackson entered a home on He was shot in the shoulder, breakHe has a hard time Grand Rapids’ Southwest Side. The 9 ing ribs and puncturing a lung, and talking about it. mm Luger was in his hand. With him in the chest, where he had a bulletShe knows it is eswas Otis Nelson, also armed. proof vest. Lowrie, on one knee, repecially hard on their In a violent rampage, the two turned gunfire. Nelson fled. Jackson other son, Ammin, robbed a family before Nelson shot got away, too, but dropped the Luger now 21. He is the same Grand Rapids Police Officer Jason near a back fence. age as Tory when he Lowrie as he and Jackson fled. Jackson is serving 40 years to died, and looked up to “It hurts me,” the gun’s owner, said life. Nelson is serving four life David Blair his big brother. when The Press informed him recent- sentences. “When (Ammin) ly of its fate. “Especially since the gun The gun’s owner was living on graduated from high school, it really I bought was used in a crime where a Leonard Street NE when the Luger hurt him a lot. He wanted his brother police officer was injured.” and other items turned up missing to be there,” Smith said. He knows that side of the story, too. shortly after he bought the weapon “I said, ‘He’s here in spirit, and His son, a Saginaw police officer, was on April 12, 2001. proud of you.’” seriously injured in a confrontation He contacted police, and his daughShe thinks of her son often, eswith a suspect. A back injury proved ter was arrested. He said they both pecially now. The bright, colorful so debilitating the son had to retire. have put the difficult times behind lights of Christmas always made him “My son, he wanted to be a police them, and asked he not be identified, happy. officer since he was 5 years old,” the to protect her. She wished others appreciated man said. “He would not have retired. She told him the gun had been “sold life like her son did, and wondered (Saginaw is) taking real good care of on the street.” why her son’s killer was even free him, but he did not want his career The man keeps guns for protection. to end.” He said he is a responsible gun owner, Lowrie, who joined the Grand Rap- and keeps them locked up. He would also like his Luger back, ids department in 2000, retired this year. He declined to be interviewed. he said.
TIME TO CRIME: 3 YEARS, 8 MONTHS, 11 DAYS
Accomplice’s gun traces to family woes
PRESS PHOTO/T.J. HAMILTON
Slain for $10: Theresa Smith holds a photo of her son Torrance Hopson, who was killed at 21 with a gun that remains unrecovered.
that night at Commerce Avenue and Wealthy Street SE. David Blair was released from prison a year earlier, after serving nearly 14 years for beating a man to death in 1990 with a bottle of wine. Smith isn’t opposed to legal ownership of guns. But she has heard
too many kids talking about getting a gun. She couldn’t believe the gun that killed her son had been used in multiple crimes. “Holy smokes. That is what I’m talking about. It’s a free-for-all out there.”
REPORT ILLEGAL GUNS: 616-774-2345
GUNS FEDERAL SEARCH IS FREE TO LOCAL POLICE
YOU CAN HELP
Tracing a gun Bullets fired from guns and their shell casings leave unique marks that can link a firearm to more than one crime. Recovered weapons can also be traced to their origin. Here's how the two systems work.
IBIS (Integrated Ballistic Identification System)
To help make our communities safer, The Press is joining with Silent Observer to help fund a gun-tip hotline. You can help in two ways:
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vice is of benefit to them.” said state police Lt. James Pierson, in charge of the Fuller Avenue lab. Because most firearms stay within a certain area, guns discovered here are entered into a regional database. But the search can expand, Pierson said. “We literally can go around the country by searching different regions,” he said. But if authorities are getting more sophisticated, there is evidence those with illegal guns are too. Nicholas Roti is chief of the organized crime division in Chicago, where 10,000 guns are recovered every year. He said some gangs have gone back to revolvers from semi-automatics, like the 9mm Glock. That’s because revolvers do not eject casings. “They basically stopped leaving evidence behind,” he said. Grand Rapids detective Sgt. Terry McGee said detectives recently discussed if the trend playing out here. Ashleigh Vogel, an IBIS technologist, said the database continues to grow after its start nine years ago. The ATF plans upgrades that will include 3D images, she said. “We’ve had cases from the lakeshore communities link up to the Grand Rapids area,” Vogel said. “It shows a pattern. You’re able to say, ‘Follow the hit pattern.’ Police could put additional resources in those areas.” She said she gets no “CSI”-style flashing light when she gets a hit, but “it’s still pretty cool.” Pierson agreed. “I’ve been doing this for 20 years. The technology we have, it still awes me. There’s no shortage of guns to be found — that’s the problem.” E-mail: jagar@grpress.com
Got a tip? Call it in
OFFERING A TIP 1. Computerized imaging equipment captures digital photographs of fired bullets and cartridge cases.
2. The images are stored in a database and electronically compared to one another in search of "high confidence hits."
3. A forensic examiner conducts a comparison of the hits to confirm similarities on a computer monitor.
4. If a match is found, the images are compared with actual evidence by an examiner on a microscope for a final determination.
5. Evidence connected to two or more shootings is assigned a unique identifier for future reference.
eTrace (Electronic Tracing System)
If you have information about a lost or stolen gun, call Silent Observer at 616-774-2345. Tipsters stay strictly anonymous. The hotline will pay $250 to callers with information leading to the arrest of someone with an illegal gun.
MAKING A DONATION If you would like to donate, checks can be made out to Silent Observer, earmarked for the “gun-tip hotline” and mailed to:
NN M M 57028 57028 1. Police recover a gun at a crime scene or during an arrest.
2. The gun's make, model and serial number is reported using eTrace. The Internet-based system submits the information to the National Tracing Center of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
3. ATF checks the serial number against its gun-sale records, or those of gun makers, wholesalers and retailers.
4. The last legal owner is identified and police can then investigate any relationship to the crime. Often, the guns have been reported stolen years earlier.
SOURCE: Michigan State Police; Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives PRESS GRAPHIC/ED RIOJAS
Firing away: Trooper Russell Karsten, left, fires a weapon to produce a bullet for testing at the Michigan State Police Grand Rapids Lab Firearms Unit. At right, IBS technologist Ashleigh Vogel examines results. COURTESY PHOTOS
Silent Observer Box 230321 Grand Rapids MI 49523 Or go online to bit.ly/SOhotline