Couple shot while protecting children

Lina Portman3 weeks ago

0 5 minutes read

Micayla and Eric Coughlin and their young daughters were at the Brooklands Plaza Splash Pad in Rochester Hills on Saturday for less than a minute when a gunman pulled up in a vehicle and fired at least 28 rounds at the families gathered there. down.

They had just gotten ice cream, according to a GoFundMe page set up for the Coughlins by a family friend. When they heard the gunshots, they grabbed their daughters, ages 2 and 7 months, to protect them. They succeeded.

But in the process, the Coughlins were shot seven times in total and remain hospitalized, according to the GoFundMe account posted by family friend Noel Wakul. The GoFundMe account has been verified by the Oakland County Sheriff's Office.

The Coughlins were among nine people shot and killed by the gunman, identified by police as Michael William Nash, 42, of Shelby Township. Authorities described the scene as chaotic: people were rushing, falling and being hit by bullets as they tried to run; ice cream cones and flip flops were covered in blood.

Police said other victims included an 8-year-old boy who was in critical condition with a head injury and a 4-year-old boy who was in stable condition with a thigh injury. A 39-year-old woman shot in the abdomen and leg was also in critical condition.

The tragedy at the Rochester Hills splash pad was just one of three mass shootings in Michigan Saturday, all in the Detroit metro area. In the village of Lathrup, 6 people were shot dead at a house party shortly after midnight on Friday. Two are in critical condition. In Detroit, a woman was killed and four other people were shot Saturday evening. The victims in both shootings were teenagers and young adults.

“We're only getting so good at this,” Oakland County Executive Dave Coulter said in a news conference Sunday.

What happened on Saturday

“I can only describe the last 24 hours as a nightmare,” Rochester Hills Mayor Bryan Barnett said Sunday. He said he never thought he would see his city written in the same sentence as other cities that have experienced mass shootings.

Barnett said he cried when he went to the splash pad Saturday, where police said Nash stopped around 5:11 p.m., got out of a vehicle, walked up the stairs to the paddling pool platform and opened fire.

Nash reloaded his gun, shot the victims again, reloaded one more time and calmly left the scene, Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard said. He described the shooting as “very random” and “bizarre”; the suspect has no known connection to the victims.

Police responded to the scene in less than 2 minutes, Bouchard said. By then, the shooter had left and confined himself to a nearby home in Shelby Township. A weapon, a Glock 9 mm, was found on site as well as three magazines.

Bouchard said that after attempts to contact the suspect failed, drones were deployed to examine the home, where Nash was found dead from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound. Also inside the house, on the kitchen table, was what looked like a semi-automatic rifle, Bouchard said. He suggested that Nash may have plans for a “second chapter.”

Bouchard described the Rochester Hills tragedy as a “gut punch.” He referenced the November 2021 shooting at Oxford High School, where 15-year-old Ethan Crumbley shot four classmates, and the February 2023 shooting at Michigan State University, where three students were killed .

More: Rochester Hills splash pad shooting suspect identified by Oakland County Sheriff's Office

More: Police: 9 injured and one suspect dead after shooting at a paddling pool in Rochester Hills

Community members respond to tragedy

Many Rochester Hills residents remain shocked, describing their city as a safe place where tragedies such as mass shootings are unprecedented.

At the Dequindre Estates mobile home park in Shelby Township, where Nash reportedly lived with his mother, neighbors like Paul McCracken didn't know what was happening or how serious the situation was until police sent a alert Saturday around 6 p.m. for neighboring houses to be evacuated.

McCracken told the Free Press on Sunday that residents were not allowed to return until much later in the night, so he and his family were forced to spend the night at another family member's house. They returned home on Sunday afternoon, while other evacuated neighbors were said to be still too worried to return home.

Adam Urauhart Sr. and his 9-year-old son, Adam Jr., were fishing Saturday at the lake in the center of Dequindre Estates when they saw “about 100” police cars entering the neighborhood.

“We're fishing and minding our own business, and next thing you know, there's guys walking down the street with bulletproof vests and AR-15s strapped on,” the father said. “I was like, 'Yeah, it's time to go home.'

The senior Urauhart, who was visiting his son who lives with his mother at the park, said he lived a few blocks from the water park and later lived in the neighborhood, making the tragedy even more terrible for him.

“Here, everyone knows each other. It’s a small park, everyone here is nice people, so everyone looks out for each other,” he said.

“It’s a safe zone, and that’s why I’m so shocked by what happened,” he continued. “When it happens so close to home, it’s difficult.”

A neighbor named Carol, who did not want to give her last name, said she knew the suspect and his mother, who she said were traveling before her son opened fire at the water park.

“The mother wasn't that bad, but I got bad vibes from her,” Carol said, referring to Nash.

Amber Holliday, who grew up in Dequindre Estates and met many of the neighbors while growing up while biking around the neighborhood, says she and her partner, Josh, also didn't know the suspect or his family.

“It wasn't someone who was away, I suppose. I’d never seen him,” said Josh, who didn’t want to give his last name.

The two said they frequent the splash pad with their 8-month-old son, Zayden; Josh had even considered taking Zayden to the splash pad right before Saturday's shooting before deciding to let him take a nap instead.

Soon after, Josh's phone blew up with worried texts and calls from his loved ones checking to see if the young family was okay.

Today, on a hot Sunday afternoon, Josh said the neighborhood was eerily empty. Normally the streets would be filled with kids riding bikes and skateboards and families fishing and spending time near the lake, especially on holidays like Father's Day, but his family was one of the few in the neighborhood to stop by afternoon outside.

Although Dequindre Estates is still Holliday's home and she's not going to let the tragedy push her, she now feels the need to be careful around neighbors she doesn't know well, she said .

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

What happened on Saturday

Community members respond to tragedy

Lina Portman

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