SBPD Chief 'sick to his stomach' over shootings in the city

As the temperatures rise, so does the violence in our communities. It’s been proven one-too many times in our neighborhoods, including Monday night, when a man was shot and killed in South Bend.

South Bend Police Chief Scott Ruszkowski joined 16 Morning News Tuesday to talk about combating gun violence.

“There were a lot of people out there…closer to 200,” Chief Ruszkowski said when talking about the amount of people who came to the crime scene following the gunshots.

“They were completely angry and rightfully so, but get angry before something like this happens. It wasn’t just one person that knew this was going to happen, it was more than one and people need to tell us,” he said.

Chief Ruszkowski couldn’t go into detail on the investigation as it’s currently being led by the St. Joseph County Metro Homicide Unit but he did say another mother lost a son.

After the segment, NewsCenter 16’s Joshua Short asked Chief Ruszkowski how many shootings (with victims) have there been in the city. He responded: “After one shooting, I stop counting because all of these shootings are frustrating and makes me sick to my stomach and we’re working to stop [this violence] all together.”

Chief Ruszkowski stopped by the WNDU studios before traveling to Ohio for the U.S. Conference of Mayors.

“Ironically, one of the topics we’re discussing is gun violence, it is a national issue and it’s happening here in our backyard and that’s my concern,” he said.

Chief Ruszkowski is also preparing for thousands who will be in Downtown South Bend this weekend for events, including Mayor Pete Buttigieg’s “special announcement.”

“We’re guessing between [6,000] and 10,000 people will be downtown,” he said adding “We’re looking at a very large special event.”