ROCHESTER HILLS(AP) – Nine people were injured, including two young children and their mother, after a shooter opened fire at a splash pad in a Michigan suburb in the United States (US) where families gathered to escape the summer heat on Saturday. Law enforcement tracked a suspect to a home, where the man died by a self-inflicted gunshot wound, authorities said.
An eight-year-old boy was shot in the head and in critical condition on Saturday night, Oakland County Sheriff Mike Bouchard said during a news conference. The boy’s mother also was in critical condition after being wounded in the abdomen and leg, and his four-year-old brother was in stable condition with a leg wound.
Authorities initially said they believed as many as 10 people had gunshot wounds from the shooting in Rochester Hills, but that number was revised after they checked with area hospitals.
The other six victims, all 30 or older, were in stable condition, Bouchard said. They included a husband-and-wife couple and a 78-year-old man.
The shooting happened just after 5pm. at a city park featuring a recreation area with a nonslip surface where people can turn on sprays and fountains of water to play in. Bouchard said the attack appeared to be random, with the shooter driving up to the park, walking to the splash pad and firing as many as 28 times, stopping multiple times to reload.
At least one witness reported that the shooter appeared to use two hand guns during the attack, but that has not yet been confirmed, the sheriff said.
In the chaos, “People were falling, getting hit, trying to run,” Bouchard said. “Terrible things that unfortunately all of us in our law enforcement business have seen way too much.”
The gunman was “apparently in no rush. Just calmly walked back to his car”, the sheriff said.
