Nine injured in a water jet zone during a “random” shooting, two of them seriously; suspect dead in Shelby Township. Home – The Oakland Press

Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard and Rochester Hills Mayor Bryan Barnett provide initial information on a mass shooting at a city splash pad on Saturday, June 15, 2024. (Stephen Frye/MediaNews Group)

Nine people were shot Saturday afternoon at a splash pad in Rochester Hills in what police say appears to be a random event.

Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard said the suspect died of a likely self-inflicted gunshot wound in the Dequindre Estates neighborhood of Shelby Township.

He said the suspect was a 42-year-old man who lived in the home with his mother, who was not home but was notified.

The sheriff said the two most serious injuries included an eight-year-old boy hit in the head and a 39-year-old woman hit in the abdomen and leg. Both were in critical condition. Additionally, a 4-year-old boy was shot in the thigh and was in stable condition. These three victims belong to the same family.

Bouchard also provided initial details on the suspect's identification, efforts to contain him, as well as his entry into the residence and confirmation of his death.

The sheriff praised the efforts and quick thinking of the deputies who responded as well as the new tools now available to law enforcement, which he said could have prevented a second “chapter” of the outpouring of potential bloodshed after the first mass shooting on the Auburn Road water ramp in southeast Rochester Hills. The shooter had pulled up in a car, walked to the nearby steps and fired at least 28 shots, reloading a .9mm Glock, which had been dropped and left behind with three empty magazines.

To emphasize this, he displayed a photograph showing an AR-style weapon on the kitchen table of the suspect's home.

“Having this on the kitchen table is not an everyday activity,” Bouchard said.

First, he explained the immediate response, in which a sergeant heard a report about a new scanner app they're using, Live 9-1-1, which provided details just as the call came in shortly after 5 p.m. Saturday and before dispatchers dispatched him. the call. The sergeant arrived on scene within two minutes and initiated the police intervention, which led to a massive police presence at several locations.

Bouchard later said he did “intelligence work” at the scene in the minutes following the shooting, with the shooter walking away from the scene. Investigators quickly had a potential address after checking the firearm.

“We didn’t have a license plate; we had a description” of the car, Bouchard said. In 45 minutes to an hour, “we had confinement at home”.

Although they did not speak to the suspect, the officers had seen or heard him and established a strict perimeter around the house.

“We tried to bring this person in peacefully,” Bouchard said.

In addition to SWAT officers and a helicopter, police also used drones. They eventually entered the structure and used a drone inside to search for the suspect, finding him dead and finding the rifle on the table.

“We don’t know what the next chapter will be,” Bouchard said of the potential for continued violence. He said the home was still being secured and processed, and they were not immediately aware of any other weapons besides the second handgun believed to have been used in the suspect's gunshot wound.

He said the shootings of families at the fountain appeared random, with no known connection to the location or victims. Additionally, the sheriff said the suspect had “mental health issues.”

U.S. Rep. John James, who represents much of Macomb County as well as Rochester and Rochester Hills in Oakland County and was at a reception, was on hand with Bouchard and Rochester Hills Mayor Bryan Barnett said Father's Day shouldn't include worries about guns. violence.

“This is an American epidemic that we must address,” James said. “Gun violence must stop. »

EARLIER

Bouchard previously provided a preliminary report on what happened along Auburn Road in the southeast part of the city. At the time, he said the information was very fluid and preliminary because detectives were at different hospitals learning about the victims. At a late-night news conference, he updated the number of injured from eight to nine, noting that some had gone to hospital themselves and it took time to confirm the details.

It was 5:11 p.m. on Saturday, June 15, when a sheriff's sergeant heard an initial report of a shooting via a scanner app — called Live 9-1-1 — and responded immediately.

Bouchard, during his 7:30 p.m. news conference, said investigators were beginning to take the full picture of what happened, saying the number of victims, their ages and their conditions were being determined. Detectives and victims' advocates were speaking to people at four area hospitals.

“One of the people shot was 8 (years old),” Bouchard said.

Meanwhile, police and officers were at a house where they say the suspect lives, trying to talk to him.

“We believe we have a suspicious individual confined nearby,” Bouchard said. “We are surrounding the house. We try to speak to this person with no response.

The sheriff's office later said the suspect was being held at a nearby home in nearby Shelby Township.