Michigan Park Shooting: An apparent random mass shooting Saturday at a public park’s splash pad in Michigan wounded nine people, including two children, according to investigators.
One of the victims, an 8-year-old kid, was hit in the head and is in serious condition, Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard said during a press conference.
The second youngster hit by gunfire was a 4-year-old boy who was shot in the leg and stabilized at a hospital, he added.
A third victim, a 39-year-old woman with abdominal and leg injuries, was in serious condition at a hospital, according to the sheriff. Bouchard said the three victims are linked.
He said the other victims, who ranged in age from 30 to 78, were stable. The sheriff said that one pair of victims consists of a husband and wife. He stated one of the victims was a municipal employee.
He claimed the suspect committed suicide at a residence in adjacent Shelby Township. The man’s identity was unknown.
According to the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office, soon after 5 p.m., the shooter arrived at the Brooklands Plaza Splash Pad, exited his car, and began fire, apparently indiscriminately.
A sergeant monitoring 911 calls coming into the county via new technology received the complaint at 5:11 p.m. and hurried to the area, arriving within 2 minutes, according to Bouchard.
The shooter was gone, but the sergeant was able to coordinate a quick medical response, he added.
According to Bouchard, the suspect used a semiautomatic pistol, seemed to reload at least twice, and shot around 28 bullets.
The individual had no known connections to the victims.
Deputies soon discovered a suspected suspect’s address after inspecting a weapon at the scene, according to Bouchard. According to Bouchard, deputies gathered outside the Shelby Township residence and were joined by a SWAT unit.
After a period of no contact from the suspect, police officers entered the residence and utilized drones to fly through it to evaluate if there was still a danger, he said.
Bouchard said they discovered the guy deceased from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. He pointed to a picture of a semiautomatic weapon on a screen and stated, “This was on the table.”
He claimed the man may have had two pistols at the splash pad, but witnesses did not see the semiautomatic rifle.
The individual may have had “mental health challenges,” he added after speaking with a relative.
On the eve of Father’s Day, it was 75 degrees outside, and the splash pad had just been closed for renovation, according to the city’s website.
“It was fairly crowded,” Bouchard said.
Oakland County was also the site of the 2021 mass shooting at Oxford High School, in which a student murdered four classmates with a semiautomatic weapon his father had purchased for him just days before.
He was sentenced to life in prison, and his parents, who had been called to school that day due to worries about their son’s interest with weapons but failed to warn him that he had access to one, were found guilty of involuntary homicide for failing to stop the assault.
Rochester Hills Mayor Bryan K. Barnett described it as an especially devastating strike for the circa-1920s suburb located approximately 30 miles north of Detroit.
“It’s a horrible scene when a child is involved,” he said.