GROSSE POINTE, Mich. – Grosse Pointe police say they’re on the trail of several potential suspects after a noose was left in the bathroom of a Panera Bread on the corner of Kercheval Avenue in the heart of downtown.
Police say the noose was fashioned out of paper towel and left behind sometime Friday (Dec. 30) night around 8:30 p.m. Grosse Pointe police Chief John Alcorn talked about the incident over the phone to Local 4.
“The significance of a noose is, I don’t think you can characterize it as anything other than a threat,” said Alcorn. “It represents murder and violence and hate. There was no note with it, no graffiti with it. There was no name attached to it, so in my mind, it was a blanket threat, and that’s how we’re investigating it.”
Alcorn said they were looking for a group of teenagers seen on surveillance video. But the restaurant was busy that night and they didn’t want to rule anyone out.
“We have a group of what we think are four or five white teenagers in the store and used the bathroom around the same time that this happened,” Alcorn said. “Now, this is in the evening, not far from the dinner time rush, so there’s a lot of people in and out of the store, and we have to make sure we’re looking at everybody.”
UPDATE: Juvenile suspect identified in Panera Bread noose investigation in Grosse Pointe
Alcorn stressed that this was an isolated incident.
“We have not had anything like this recently,” Alcorn said. “This is a standalone event, but I think that’s important to note.”
Alcorn didn’t want to speculate on the motive, as no note or name was attached to it. So it’s difficult to tell if it was targeted, but he is asking anyone who might know something to call the Grosse Pointe Public Safety Office at (313) 822-7400. All tips will remain anonymous.