Suspect flees before arrest after opening fire at Frank's Place

 

SOUTH BEND, Ind.-- Krystal Sutton moved in next door to Frank's Place Restaurant and Lounge about a year ago, and at the time, the bar was closed.

"When we moved in, the bar was still shut down," Sutton said. "Otherwise, we would have never moved here."

But about six months ago, Frank's Place reopened under new ownership.

"It's always just super loud," she said.

On Wednesday, an active shooter situation erupted.

"The kids and I were in the living room, and my oldest was like 'Hey mom there's a cop outside,' I look outside like 'Oh, there's several cops outside.'"

She was warned to stay inside, taking to Facebook to find out what was going on, that there was a potential active shooter inside the bar.

"Oh buddy," she said. "At that point, I was so scared. I was like 'Okay, kids, you're going to go right back to the same spot, furthest from the bar, and you're going to stay there."

South Bend Police confirm the call for shots fired inside the bar came around 3:30 Wednesday afternoon, but no victims were found.

A suspect fled Frank's, ending up at Memorial Hospital, and was almost immediately detained. His name is Lorenzo Williams, and he is being held at the St. Joseph County jail, facing charges for possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number, aggravated battery, drug charges and more.

The owner of Frank's, posted on Facebook: "The situation at hand could have happened anywhere at anytime and we are all confused on why it even happened!

I have personally worked so hard to bring back a good name and reputation to Frank’s Place as well as my employees. Please do not let this incident change your view on Frank’s."

But neighbors like Sutton want to see Frank's Place shut down again.

"My younger kids, they're too young to understand what's going on or really remember it. But my oldest, he's well aware," Sutton said, "and he asks me every day, 'Why did we move next door to a bar.'"

In fact, it wasn't the first time a gun was fired near Frank's Wednesday.

"The bar closed at 1, and a gang of people are just in the parking lot, loud, carrying on," she said.

She was still awake around 2:30 in the morning Wednesday.

"I heard, like it turned into kind of an argument, and then I heard like five gunshots and freaked out for a second," she said.

Police confirm these reports, even collecting shell casings in the parking lot after the incident, but again, no one was hurt.

Frank's is still operating normal business hours, with the owner pleading on Facebook: "We just ask all of our regulars to continue supporting the business and putting out positive encouragement for our business because we need it now more than ever."

ABC57 asked the owner for an interview Thursday but she was unavailable and other staff declined to comment.