Among Splash Pad victims, mother shot twice while carrying child

Lina Portman2 weeks ago

0 2 minutes read

Mario Iafrate and his teenage twin daughters managed to escape the bullets, although they were separated in the process.

Danielle Iafrate did not.

When a gunman, later identified by police as Michael William Nash, fired 36 bullets at families at the Brooklands Plaza Splash Pad in Rochester Hills on Saturday, two of those bullets struck Danielle Iafrate as she tried to flee with her 7 year old child. girl.

Iafrate was shot in the back and arm, according to a GoFundMe page raising money for the family, created by a friend and verified by the Oakland County Sheriff's Office.

She tried to seek shelter at local businesses but was refused entry, the GoFundMe post said. A passerby on their way to work waved Danielle and her daughter into the car, then rushed them to the hospital.

Meanwhile, Danielle and Mario Iafrate's twin daughters were separated from their parents; one ran across the street and hid behind some bushes, and the other behind an ice cream parlor.

Danielle Iafrate underwent surgery and is recovering at home. She is the latest survivor of the splash pad tragedy to be identified through GoFundMe.

You can visit his GoFundMe account here.

Nash, 42, is accused of shooting nine people at the splash pad before shooting himself to death inside his Shelby Township home, where authorities later discovered 11 guns.

Among the victims: a husband and wife who managed to shield their two young daughters from bullets and, in doing so, were themselves shot seven times, and a mother and her two young sons, including an 8-year-old . in the head.

The GoFundMe page for the husband and wife can be found here, and for the mother and her two young sons, here.

A handgun, two magazines and numerous electronic devices, including a phone, laptop, tablet and hard drives, were left at the scene.

As of Thursday, Nash's motives were still unknown. He left neither note nor manifest. Detectives searched the phone left at the scene and found no explanation. Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard said detectives may not be able to find a motive.

Bouchard said Nash may have suffered from mental illness; he thought the government was following him.

Family members told detectives he was walking around his house with a gun, saying things like “turn off your phone, we're being watched, they're listening to us,” Bouchard said.

Most of the victims left the hospital on Wednesday. Three victims remained hospitalized, according to the Oakland County Sheriff's Office: an 8-year-old boy, a 39-year-old woman and a 30-year-old woman.

Andrea Sahouri covers criminal justice for the Detroit Free Press. She can be reached at 313-264-0442 or [email protected].

Lina Portman

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