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8-year-old victim of wading pool shooting released from hospital, two victims remain in hospital • Michigan Advance

All but two of the victims of the Father's Day weekend mass shooting at Brooklands Plaza Splash Pad in Rochester Hills have been released from the hospital, with the 8-year-old victim released Friday, according to the Oakland County Sheriff's Office.

The 8-year-old boy, who was shot in the head and whose name has not been released by police, is one of two children shot and killed by a man police identified as Michael William Nash, who opened fire on families enjoying the splash pad on a sunny June 15 afternoon. The 8-year-old's 4-year-old brother was shot in the thigh and was released from the hospital last month. Their 39-year-old mother remains hospitalized with abdominal and leg injuries.

The sheriff's office's public information officer confirmed Monday to Advance that law enforcement has yet to discover a motive for Nash's actions, and may never find one, since Nash was found dead in his mother's home after the shooting, apparently from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

An AR-platform rifle lying on the kitchen table near Nash led police to believe there may have been more shootings planned, Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard said hours after the shooting.

Oakland County Sheriff Mike Bouchard discusses what police know about the Rochester Hills shooting, June 15, 2024 | Anna Liz Nichols

“We don't know what the next chapter is,” Bouchard said at a news conference hours after the shooting. “I think because we got it under control so quickly, if he had plans to do something else – and it wouldn't surprise me, because having that [the AR rifle] on the kitchen table is not an everyday activity — that there was probably something else, a second chapter potentially.

The mother of the two boys and another woman, aged 30, remain hospitalized, according to the sheriff's office. A total of seven victims with gunshot wounds have been released from the hospital.

The City of Rochester Hills has set up several GoFundMe pages identifying and supporting some of the families who were victims of the shooting, including the two youngest victims and their mother.

Law enforcement described the scene at the wading pool as chaotic, with ice and children's shoes strewn behind as families ran for their lives.

A family, the Lafrates, scattered to find safety and a GoFundMe seeks to support family as mother, Danielle, was shot while protecting her daughter.

Danielle was carrying her 7-year-old daughter to safety when she was shot in the arm and back. The GoFundMe and the couple were denied accommodation by nearby businesses. But a “sympathetic passerby” waved Danielle into their car, taking her to the hospital.

Father Mario was separated from the couple's twin teenage daughters in the chaos, but one ran across the street and hid behind some bushes and the other hid behind the nearby ice cream parlor.

A GoFundMe for the Jacoud Borges family Husband Carlos, 4.2, and wife Karina, 37, were at the paddling pool with their son Luke, 6, when a fun summer family outing turned into a nightmare when their family was the first person the gunman saw.

Carlos was hit in the knee and Karina was hit in the hand while protecting their son, the GoFundMe said.

“Although they were injured, they managed to throw themselves on their son, creating a human shield to protect him,” the GoFundMe page reads. “There were minutes of terror, fear and despair that seemed to last forever and will never be forgotten.”

UPDATE: What we know about the Rochester Hills mass shooting

The GoFundMe seeks to financially support the family as Carlos and Karina undergo surgery for their injuries and Luke deals with the mental health impact of the tragedy.

Support is sought for another family, a 77-year-old man named Richard and his family after bringing his 8-year-old granddaughter, Bexley, to the wading pool, according to a GoFundMe.

Richard is a “wonderful” and “fun” grandfather, according to the GoFundMe. He often spends time with his grandchildren. The shooter shot him twice in the abdomen and once in the thigh. Bexley ran to the bathroom and hid at a friend’s house.

Micayla and Eric Coughlin were shot and killed while protecting their daughters, ages 2 and 7 months, according to a GoFundMe campaign The couple took their daughters to get ice cream and headed to the wading pool where, moments after they arrived, the gunfire began.

“Thanks to their heroic actions, their children were protected and able to return home that night,” the page reads.

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