Show Officials Call Black College Reunion A Success Despite Violence By Roger Roy And Bryant Knight Ridder Newspapers DAYTONA BEACH Fla Long lines of traffic snaking out of town Sunday marked the end of a aBlack aBlack Black College Reunion that officials officials called a success despite violence that left one man dead and three other people hospitalized The young people tried and cooperated and showed great respect said Mayor Bud Asher who walked the streets un until early Sunday morning meeting and shaking shaking shak shak- ing hands with some of the more than people attending the three day reunion Im thankful the weekend as a whole went very well We nWe didn't have a safety public disaster Asher added No law enforcement officers were injured and we also did a good job of protecting protecting pro pro- the property of Daytona Beach residents The event marred last year by a shooting that left one man dead and four law officers wounded wasn't without trouble The weekends weekend's worst violence came about 4 am a.m. Sunday when police were called to two shootings in the same block of State Road AlA Craig Grover of Jacksonville Fla whose age was not available was shot in the head outside the Sea Dip Beach Resort Daytona Beach police spokeswoman Sherri Davis said Minutes later a man with a gunshot gunshot gun gun- shot wound to the abdomen was found behind the Copacabana Motel about yards away Grover was rushed to Halifax Medical Center in Daytona Beach in critical critic l condition He died at pm p.m. a nursing supervisor said The second man Ansie Pierre 24 of Miami was in stable condi condi- v tion at Halifax Davis said officers were investigating investigating gating whether the shootings were related Witnesses said there was an argument between two men at the Sea Dip and that others tried to break it up The gunfire scattered the crowd in all directions they said It was was' just said Ray Low a deejay who had been performing at the Sea Dip earlier that night Just some guys who had ad been drinking all night listening to thug music We heard they were fighting over a girl It was completely completely com com- unnecessary This just dampens the image of Black College College Col Col- lege Reunion for everyone r rAsher Asher said he was told the argument argument ment began when one man threw a drink on another mans man's girlfriend but Davis said police were not sure what triggered the shooting No arrests had been made And on Saturday a woman was charged with stabbing an n Alabama man in the back in nearby Ormond Beach Timothy Jordan 21 of Birmingham Ala was in satisfactory J tory condition at Halifax It was a good one said Erica Lewis 25 of Jacksonville who has attended the reunion since 1 1990 90 People were being really respectful respect respect- ful so that we can keep coming here Others complained of the heavy police presence and the more than 2000 traffic tickets that were written written writ writ- ten sometimes for minor offenses Even so Quincy Jackson a University University Uni Uni- of Alabama football player and senior said the presence of officers on every block didn't bother both both- er him At the Desert Inn Resort Motel Mote and Health Club maintenance manager manager man man- ager Tom Devlin said the crowd was quieter than last year well well- b behaved eave h d It went well Devlin said l There were minimal damages like Jike any other spring break i of traffic which packed AlA and main beach routes throughout the weekend took most of the day dayto to wind their way out of town Only 44 of those arrested are registered college students Davis said |