SOUTH BEND — A Fourth of July celebration turned violent. Three people were shot, leaving a business and homes in this South Bend community riddled with bullets. The shootings happened within minutes of each other.

After sunset on the Fourth into the wee hours of the morning, people in Geraldine Petree's neighborhood celebrated with a big bang.

"We had a lot all the way around," said Petree. "There was still stuff going on around midnight."

Lingering fireworks debris showed it was an explosive night on Milton Street. It was also a night marked by violence in this section of South Bend.

Emergency crews responded a home at 115 E. Milton Street, just after 12:30 early Sunday morning. Police say shots were fired at a party, and 18-year-old Jamie Peterson was shot in the leg.

Less than five minutes later, officers arrived at a home at the 600 block of Pennsylvania Avenue. There, officers say three to four men riding in a minivan pulled up and fired shots at two people including a 6-year-old child.

The child's father, who was shot in the leg, was identified as Ralph Johnson.

All three victims remain in serious condition.

South Bend police say the suspects turned their attention to a woman outside a home in the 500 block of Pennsylvania after 12:40 a.m. Officers say the suspects fired multiple shots at the house where several people were inside.

Officers say another home on Pennsyvlania Ave was struck. No one inside the home was injured.

Nearly across the street from where the shooting-spree started on Milton, Vicky Singh noticed something wasn't quite right when he showed up for work at the South Side Grocery Sunday morning.

"I see that there was a hole in the glass," said Singh. "We thought somebody tried to steal something this morning."

A bullet punctured the canopy to the store's sign then went through the window.

The grocer covered the hole and shattered glass with a sticker. Singh peeled back the sticker to show WSBT News crews the damage.

Singh said he filed a police report Sunday.

Police believe the series of shootings are connected, and they're asking for the public's help, hoping tips spark enough leads for an arrest.

The South Bend Police tip line is (574) 235-9201

Crime Stoppers tip line is (574) 288-STOP