Eight-year-old boy and mother in critical condition as nine people injured in shooting at Detroit water park | US News

An eight-year-old boy is in critical condition after being shot in the head at a Michigan water park – and eight other people have been injured.

His mother is also in critical condition, while his four-year-old brother is in stable condition with a leg injury, after a gunman opened fire Saturday in a Detroit suburb.

Six other victims, all aged 30 or older, including a husband and wife and a 78-year-old man, are said to be in stable condition.

Police tracked the suspected shooter, described as a 42-year-old white man, to a home, where they sent a drone inside to find he had died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. inflicted, authorities said.

The shooting happened shortly after 5 p.m. at the Brooklands Plaza Splash Pad in Rochester Hills, an area of ​​a city park where people can play in water fountains.

Oakland County Sheriff Mike Bouchard said the attack appeared to be random, with the shooter heading toward the park, walking to the water recreation area and shooting up to 28 times, stopping several times to recharge.

“People were falling, getting hit, trying to run,” he said. “Terrible things that all of us, unfortunately, in our law enforcement sector have seen far too much of.”

The sheriff said the shooter, who at least one witness said was using two handguns, was “apparently in no hurry” and was “simply walking calmly back to his car.”

A police officer arrived on scene two minutes after the 911 call, he said, with first deputies providing first aid, including tourniquets.

A handgun and three empty magazines were recovered at the scene, the sheriff said.

Police quickly located a likely address and a car matching the suspect's was discovered at the residence.

Sheriff Bouchard said quick police actions could have prevented a “second chapter” of the shooting, as he showed a photo of a semi-automatic rifle on a table inside the home.

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Another handgun, believed to have been used by the suspect to kill himself, was also found inside.

The suspect, who reportedly lived with his mother, did not live in Rochester Hills and it is not yet clear why he went to the park or what his motive was.

Rochester Hills Mayor Bryan Barnett said he “started crying” when he arrived at the scene because it's supposed to be a place where people gather and have fun.

The shooting is a reminder “that we live in a fragile place,” he said, while Sheriff Bouchard called it “a punch in the gut” to the county.

“Our most fervent hope, at least at this point, is that all injured victims make a speedy recovery,” he said.

“None of us… expected that Father's Day weekend would be met with this kind of tragedy that will deeply affect families forever.”