SAGINAW (WJRT) -
(11/27/12) - Saginaw Police were called to the Paradise Funeral Home just as the service for Walter Riley III was starting.
Riley, 16, was shot and killed, Nov.16, in the 3300 block of Rust Avenue. Police continue to investigate his homicide.
Police officers from agencies around the county responded to the funeral home, on the city's southside, Tuesday morning.
Scanner traffic indicated there was a fight and possibly shots fired.
ABC12 spoke briefly with Saginaw Police Tuesday afternoon. Police do not believe there were any gunshots fired, but more likely some sort of altercation. No other information was immediately available.
A man, who identified himself only as Riley's uncle, says his sister attended the funeral. He says she called her boyfriend from a bathroom, inside the building, saying someone was shooting outside.
"The police came as quick as they can. Nobody was hurt. Nobody was injured," he says. "Thank God nobody was injured. That was my family in there."
"Just the idea it would happen is so disrespectful. Let them bury the young man," says Larry Cole. He's Riley's great uncle.
Cole did not attend the funeral.
"At the last second, something spoke to me and said, 'You don't need to be into that. Don't go over there,'" Cole says.
He says he heard about what happened from people who were at the service - including Riley's mother.
"She didn't get up to see what was going on. My niece said she went out to see. She saw the crowd rushing in and she didn't want to get hurt, so she tried to stay clear."
"This is a sad situation for everybody," Cole says. "Here you have a young man who has lost his life. The least you can do is let his family bury him."
