In the pre-dawn hours of February 18, 2017, rapid gunfire—neighbors said it sounded like fireworks and amounted to 30 to 40 rounds—rang out in South Bend’s Northwest district. Twenty-four-year-old Michael Willie Briggs was killed in the barrage; three other people, two men and one woman, were wounded and taken to a local hospital.

Michael was remembered by those who knew him as a charismatic athlete who played basketball, football and baseball, and as a devoted family man who cherished his children. Investigators worked the scene in the days after the shooting, but news reports from the time said no arrests had been announced and did not identify any suspects or motives.

The lack of public resolution has left family and the community without answers. If anyone knew Michael, witnessed the shooting, or has information that could help, please come forward to investigators.