A shooting at a recreation center in Rochester Hills, Michigan, on Saturday left at least nine people injured, including two children. The suspected shooter has died, police said.
Emergency crews were called to the incident at the Brooklands Plaza splash pad at approximately 5.11pm.
By the time police arrived on the scene, the shooting suspect had fled.
According to investigators, the shooter opened fire from about 20 feet away from the victims. The shooter reportedly fired 28 rounds into the recreation center.
Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard Said At a press conference Saturday night, he said, “It appears the perpetrator parked his vehicle, got out, approached the splash pad and started firing. He loaded the gun, fired the gun, loaded the gun and left. It was a very random crime. At this time, we don’t have any link to the victim.”
However, the suspect reportedly left a 9mm Glock handgun and three empty magazines at the crime scene.
“The only weapon that was on scene led us to the address that was registered to that address, and that’s why we were able to get to the home so quickly,” Bouchard said.
Police tracked the suspect to a home in Shelby Township, about a half-mile from the crime scene.
Police were unable to make contact with the shooter at the home.
“We brought in assets including SWAT, helicopters, drones, and tried to make contact with the individual and remove him peacefully to no avail, no communication was made,” Bouchard said.
Officers then entered the home and deployed a drone to assess the situation inside.
The suspect is believed to have committed suicide inside his home.
Police said they “found the man deceased at home.”
Bouchard said there was another weapon inside the home on a kitchen table that appeared to be a semi-automatic .223.
Police have not yet identified the shooting suspect, a 42-year-old man who reportedly lived with his mother.
Two of the nine shooting victims were children, an 8-year-old boy in critical condition with a gunshot wound to the head, and a 4-year-old boy in stable condition with a gunshot wound to the thigh.
The boys’ mother, 39, was also shot in the abdomen and leg and remains in critical condition.
The six other shooting victims – three women and three men, ages ranging from 30 to 78 – are reportedly in stable condition.
Sheriff Bouchard said the shooting was a “shock” as the community is still reeling from the 2021 high school shooting near Oxford that left four students dead.
“We still don’t fully understand what happened in Oxford, and now we have to deal with another tragedy,” he explained. “It’s my worst nightmare, but I can’t imagine standing here again and talking about another shooter.”
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