Shooting in Detroit Suburb Injures 9, 8-year-old in Critical Condition

Oakland County Sheriff Evidence Technicians document the scene where a shooting took place at Brooklands Plaza Splash Pad in Rochester Hills, Michigan, on June 15, 2024. (Photo by JEFF KOWALSKY / AFP)

Nine people were injured, including two young children and their mother, after a shooter opened fire at a splash pad in a Detroit suburb where families gathered to escape the summer heat Saturday. Law enforcement tracked a suspect to a home, where the man died by a self-inflicted gunshot wound, authorities said.
An 8-year-old boy was shot in the head and in critical condition Saturday night, Oakland County Sheriff Mike Bouchard said during a news conference. The boy's mother also was in critical condition after being wounded in the abdomen and leg, and his 4-year-old brother was in stable condition with a leg wound, The Associated Press reported.
Authorities initially said they believed as many as 10 people had gunshot wounds from the shooting in Rochester Hills, but that number was revised after they checked with area hospitals.
The other six victims, all 30 or older, were in stable condition, Bouchard said. They included a husband-and-wife couple and a 78-year-old man.
The shooting happened just after 5 p.m. at a city park featuring a recreation area with a nonslip surface where people can turn on sprays and fountains of water to play in. Bouchard said the attack appeared to be random, with the shooter driving up to the park, walking to the splash pad and firing as many as 28 times, stopping multiple times to reload.
At least one witness reported that the shooter appeared to use two hand guns during the attack, but that has not yet been confirmed, the sheriff said.
Bouchard said the first deputies who arrived immediately began providing first aid including tourniquets. Officers also were able to quickly come up with a likely address, and a car matching the suspect’s vehicle was at the residence.
Deputies surrounded the home and tried to make contact with the suspect inside, to no avail, Bouchard said. They sent a drone inside the home and then entered to find the suspect was dead.
Another weapon was found inside. The quick containment of the suspect may have prevented a “second chapter” to the shooting, the sheriff said, displaying a photo of a semiautomatic rifle on a table inside the home.
The suspect did not live in Rochester Hills and investigators do not yet know why he went to the splash pad, according to Bouchard.
Officials did not release the man's name. Bouchard described him as a 42-year-old white man and said officials believe he lived with his mother. The man’s mother was notified, Bouchard said.