WMU students, residents fear for safety as crime increases near Kalamazoo strip mall

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KALAMAZOO, Mich. — At Campus Pointe Mall in Kalamazoo, right across the street from Western Michigan University, students are beginning to grow fearful of the threat of violence creeping closer to campus.

"It might be every weekend," says Hailey Cobb, a sophomore at WMU. "Last weekend I heard three gunshots."

She lives in the apartment complex next to Campus Pointe, and becomes more scared with each passing gunshot.

"It's just really sad and heartbreaking to see in my phone from Western saying there's been a shooting at South Howard Street every single weekend," says Cobb.

The Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety says it has seen a rise in crime around Campus Pointe. They say in the last year, the area has seen two murders, seven aggravated assaults and more than a dozen larcenies among other crimes.

Tyrell Shaff, a Kalamazoo resident, has seen people doing donuts in their cars here late at night.

"There's like tire tread marks and stuff like that," he says.

Shaff has friends at Western, and doesn't want to see any of them end up hurt.

"The end result is pretty dire," he says. "Like, it's a really life or death situation, you know?"

While 13 ON YOUR SIDE was at Campus Pointe, a man calling himself the property manager aggressively told our crew to leave.

The DPS says it has increased patrols in the area lately. Shaff and Cobb hope it helps, so students can just go back to being students.

"Students want a safe environment they can go and have fun at night," says Shaff.

"We just want to be normal, like just normal," says Cobb. "Like, you don't have to worry about shootings or getting shot or getting hit. We don't want to worry about that."

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