GROSSE POINTE, Mich. – The reward for information in the Grosse Pointe teen's death is up to $10,000. A local real estate developer previously offered a $5,000 reward for information that leads to the conviction of the gunman who fired on a car load of teenagers, killing 16-year-old University Liggett honor student Paige Stalker on Dec. 22. Now the reward has doubled.
Related: Grandparents of slain Grosse Pointe teen say she had promising future
"It's terrible," said Thomas Guastello. "The first school I ever went to as a small child was University Liggett when it was on Burns Avenue. My children went there when we lived in Grosse Pointe. You think of it as a safe little bubble, but you get three blocks out of your neighborhood and you're being shot at."
A lone gunman fired more than 30 rounds into the car injuring the other teens.
Detroit police said the kids had pulled over just blocks away from the Grosse Pointe Park border near Philip and Charlevoix to smoke pot. Local 4 has now learned that spot was frequented by suburban teens because of a drug dealer selling marijuana out of that area.
Was the gunman looking for the dealer and targeted the kids because they were there? Maybe. Was it a botched robbery? Maybe. Or was it something else?
The area where the shooting happened is a short distance from where Grosse Pointe Park and Detroit are battling over farmers market sheds. Grosse Pointe Park has erected the sheds on Kercheval and they serve as a barrier between the cities. Detroit has been telling the city to take them down.
Crime stats show the area has massive problems. Many have suggested the teens never should have been there, which is true. But it does not excuse a man pulling out an automatic weapon and trying to execute them.
"There's been a lot of violence here, it should be corrected and I think the police department has to do more than secure the core city," Guastello said.