Splash Pad shooter's neighbors fear they're next, call him 'loner'

Lina Portman3 weeks ago

8 6 minutes read

Shelby Township — A Shelby Township shooter, described by neighbors as a “loner,” fired 28 shots in a “random” act that injured nine people Saturday at a Rochester Hills wading pool, two of them seriously, including an eight-year-old boy, before being found. dead, police officials said.

Michael William Nash, 42, got out of a vehicle around 5:11 p.m. Saturday at the Brooklands Plaza Splash Pad along Auburn Road in Rochester Hills, opened fire with a Glock 9mm semi-automatic handgun, reloaded, fired then reloaded a second time. , leaving three bullet magazines at the scene, according to the Oakland County Sheriff's Office.

The shooter was later found dead at a mobile home park less than two miles from the water park and had a history of mental health issues, Sheriff Michael Bouchard said. The case is still ongoing.

Nash, whose identity was confirmed Sunday by Oakland County Sheriff's spokesman Steve Huber, was found dead, believed to be a self-inflicted gunshot. , Bouchard said during a press conference Saturday evening in Pontiac. He had an “AR platform” semi-automatic rifle on the table as well as at least one other weapon, the sheriff said.

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A 39-year-old woman was shot in the abdomen and legs and is also in critical condition, Bouchard said, noting that a 4-year-old relative was in stable condition after being shot in the thigh and was part of a whole “one family.” The other nine victims were in stable condition at various hospitals in metro Detroit and their conditions remained unchanged Sunday, Huber said.

“When I got there, I started crying because I know what a splash pad is supposed to be. It's supposed to be a place where people come together and where families create memories, where people are having fun and enjoying a Saturday afternoon,” said the mayor of Rochester. Bryan Barnett said Saturday night. “…What normally happens in our city did not happen today.”

Bouchard called the shooting “a gut punch” for Oakland County and sheriff's deputies after responding to the November 2021 mass shooting at Oxford High School and assisting other police departments during the February 2023 shooting at Michigan State University in East Lansing. Four students died and seven people were injured in the Oxford mass shooting, while three students died and five others were injured in the MSU mass shooting.

Fear and shock were evident Sunday morning in the mobile home park, where neighbors were huddled outside their units to discuss the chaotic events of Saturday, when police swarmed the community. Nash's mobile home had plywood hanging over the door where police broke in.

The semi-automatic rifle found on Nash's kitchen table left residents of the Dequindre Estates mobile home park wondering if they could have been his next victims. Bouchard said Saturday night of Nash: “If he was planning on doing something else, it wouldn't surprise me, because having this on the kitchen table is not an everyday activity.” There was probably something else – a second chapter, potentially. »

Alex Roser, who lives a few units from Nash's house, had the same feeling.

“I wonder what he was planning to do with that semi-automatic rifle,” Roser said. “And I wonder if we triggered it somehow because my kids and I play soccer outside his house all the time.”

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Kyleen Duchene has lived in the mobile home park for 20 years and resides near the suspected shooter, who lived with her mother. She said it was concerning that a semi-automatic rifle was found in the shooter's unit.

Neighbor describes scene as police arrive at home of suspected water jet shooter

Alex Roser, a resident of the Dequindre Eststes mobile home park in Shelby Township, recounts what he saw when police arrived at the home of Michael William Nash.

“He’s a loner. The blinds are always drawn there,” Duchene said.

“I don’t know why he chose to go to the water park,” she added. “He has no children.”

Nash used his mother's car Saturday to commit the crime, Duchene and Roser said. He normally drives a truck, they said.

What led the police to go to a mobile home

Oakland County sheriff's deputies were on scene within two minutes of a 911 call thanks to new technology that speeds emergency response times, Bouchard said. The Oakland County Sheriff's Office conducted the investigation as it provides police coverage for the city of Rochester Hills.

When police arrived at the splash pad Saturday, they recovered the registered Glock handgun and a magazine, helping investigators get to Nash's home, the sheriff said. At the splash park, shell casings were scattered on the sidewalk and marked with yellow evidence markers for each bullet fired.

Barnett said he remembers sending messages of condolence to the mayors of Orlando, Las Vegas and Dayton, Ohio, among others, after mass shootings in those cities, but he doesn't There was never expected to be a mass shooting in the Detroit suburb of about 76,000.

“It's a mental reset. It reminds us that we live in a fragile place with fragile people,” Barnett said. “And it's also a reminder to be grateful for the professionals. There were about 100 firefighters and sheriff's deputies there today.”

Jarrett Schmidt, 43, was visiting his mother's home on nearby Culbertson Avenue when he noticed several cars racing past him on the residential street. Schmidt of Rochester Hills said he drove down the road to find several injured people at the scene as emergency medical help rushed in.

Schmidt said he jumped into action, applying a tourniquet to some of the injured people before first responders fully responded. As a gun owner with a concealed carry permit, Schmidt said he was accustomed to keeping a first aid kit with him.

One of the victims, the grandfather of a close family friend, was shot several times in the stomach, Schmidt said.

“He was sitting with his back to that alley,” Schmidt said. “The gentleman came up behind him and started shooting and going through him to get to everyone.”

The Glock found left at the splash pad was registered and investigators followed the address to the mobile home park less than two miles away, Bouchard said. The shooter admitted that police attempted to contact him, but authorities did not establish full communication with him, the sheriff said.

The shooter may have died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound as police surrounded the house, Bouchard said, but officers on scene did not hear the gunshot. Nash was found dead after police entered the home with a drone, the sheriff said.

Neighbors reflect on Nash

Nash was a huge contrast to his parents. Neighbors at the mobile home park said he lived with his mother, who was outgoing and friendly. Residents didn't know much about Nash.

“We keep calling him a child, but we just heard on the news that he's in his 40s,” said Duchene, who added that Nash's mother has been traveling across the country recently.

Roser said the mother and son were on opposite sides.

“Her mother was super friendly, kind, talkative and kind to everyone she saw,” Roser said. “We never really saw him. He never left the house. And when he did, he didn't even say hello to us when we wanted to greet him. … We are a very friendly community. He was just for himself. He was very quiet and didn't want to be part of our community.

Nash's father, Dennis Nash Sr., was a journeyman machinist who died three years ago at the age of 73, according to a funeral notice from Dignity Memorial. The father loved “hunting and fishing” and “always helped others,” the notice states. Michael Nash was listed as having four children and his wife was Kathryn.

How chaos took over the park

Police arrived at the mobile home park at least around 6 p.m., resident Kyle LaFerle said. He said he left the trailer park around 6 p.m. to run a marathon. “There were about 15 police cars” in the park.

Roser said he was preparing to go to the grocery store when police entered the Mobile Park community, ran to the shooter's house and surrounded it. They then ran back and collected shields, he said.

When Roser asked him what he should do, the police told him to get out of there.

Duchene said she started getting calls about the shooting, then police showed up with shields. Police entered and escorted her to her back door, Duchene said. She and others stood in their backyard for five to six hours, she said.

“The police come here all the time, but not to this house,” Duchene said. “But when I saw 500 plus the dogs, I knew something was serious.”

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Political Editor Chad Livengood contributed.

What led the police to go to a mobile home

Neighbors reflect on Nash

How chaos took over the park

Lina Portman

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