(WXYZ) — It was the last day for the Michigan State Fair, which since Sunday has seen an increased police presence and shortened hours, among other restrictions.
This is all in response to the shooting that happened Saturday night that resulted in a 14-year-old dead and another 14-year-old injured.
Related Video: Michigan State Fair continues after shooting with more security, new rules
As the search for the suspect continues, the community is asking what more can be done to protect events from senseless acts of violence.
On Monday, the fair ended at 7 p.m. instead of 10 p.m. It was one of the many newly added restrictions since Saturday's shooting.
Even though nearly 48 hours later, the event seemed to be going well, the incident has not been forgotten.
"Hearing about the shooting initially, 'cause like I was like what if something like this happens again?" said Josh McNeal, Michigan State Fair attendee. "I looked on the website, they say they were upping police presence and I said 'OK, that's cool.'"
Josh, 25, has been attending the state fair for 20 years. That's why he did not want to miss this year's festival.
"When I came in today, I felt a little safer... they were doing pat downs... I should say wand downs.. And I see a whole bunch of cops here... so I was like nothing should happen today," he said.
As the search for the suspect continues, Novi police say the shooting was a targeted and isolated incident that stemmed from an ongoing argument outside the venue.
But this is not the first time fights have disrupted events. In May, brawls among the youth caused the closure of the Berkley Days weekend carnival for the second straight year. Police also closed Marysville Summerfest early this year due to fights, and a similar situation also happened in Center Line.
A season events producer, Jon Witz, is currently organizing Arts Beats and Eats in Royal Oak, and he says such acts impact the overall events industry.
"It starts with all level of planning with law enforcement, I don't know how many officers exactly, but we have a private security bill of $200,000 that's stationed at all the entrances and placed throughout the festival to support the operation," said Jon.
Meanwhile, retired assistant Chief of Detroit police, Steve Dolunt, says events are about having a good time and, in theory, they should never be about heavy police presences enforcing restrictions.
"Too many kids are going to these things without parents, without parental control and these kind of things happen. Parents need to monitor their kids social media, better, parents need to teach their kids respect, their elders, their friends, respect themselves. They don't respect themselves ... something like this happens," he said.
I reached out to the state fair organizers for comments today, but they did not want to talk about the incident, nor did they let us talk to any of the vendors and participants about how they felt. In the meantime, Steve says always to stay vigilant. If you see something, say something.
