ROCHESTER HILLS, Mich. (CBS DETROIT) – At least eight people, including two children, were injured Saturday evening when a gunman opened fire at a splash pad in the Detroit suburb of Rochester Hills, authorities said. The 42-year-old suspect was later found dead by suicide after a standoff at a home in a nearby community.
Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard said in a news briefing that the male suspect pulled into a car just after 5 p.m. local time, got out and opened fire at the Brooklands Plaza Splash Pad, located at 1585 E. Auburn Rd.
“It appears the individual stopped, exited a vehicle, approached the splash pad, opened fire, reloaded, opened fire, reloaded, took off,” Bouchard said. “It seems very random at this point… No connection to the victims.”
The sheriff initially reported that nine to 10 people had been shot, but announced at a second news conference late Saturday evening that eight people had been injured.
The victims ranged in age from 4 to 78, Bouchard said. An 8-year-old boy was in critical condition with head injuries. A 39-year-old woman from the same family was also in critical condition.
The rest of the victims were in stable condition with multiple gunshot wounds. At least four area hospitals were treating the victims.
After fleeing the shooting, it was discovered that the suspect, whose name has not been released, had gone to a home within a half-mile of the splash pad, Bouchard said. Authorities surrounded the barricaded home in Shelby Township and a standoff ensued.
Just after 10 p.m., both Rochester police and the sheriff’s office reported that the suspect was found dead by suicide inside the home.
“We very quickly identified who we thought may have been involved based on the evidence at the scene and responded immediately,” Bouchard said. “There was a vehicle there that matched what was described as a vehicle leaving the scene. So we established a quick perimeter. And officers on scene apparently heard or saw the person they were trying to communicate with.”
During the shooting, the gunman may have fired 28 times and reloaded several times, Bouchard said. A 9mm Glock semi-automatic pistol was recovered at the scene, along with three empty magazines.
Bouchard explained that officers were able to trace the gun’s registration to the Shelby Township address where the suspect was believed to be living with his mother.
Within an hour of the shooting, authorities had “contained” the house and “established a hard perimeter” using SWAT, helicopters and drones, Bouchard said. The suspect’s mother was not home at the time of the standoff, Bouchard announced.
After receiving no contact from the suspect, they forced their way into the house and, using drones, found the suspect dead inside. Bouchard also showed reporters a photo of a semiautomatic weapon found on a kitchen table.
“I believe that because we got him under control quickly, if he was planning on doing something else, I wouldn’t be surprised because having that on the kitchen table is not an everyday occurrence,” Bouchard said. “That there was probably something else, a second chapter, possible.”
Bouchard said investigators still do not have a motive for the shooting. The suspect “had no criminal history to our knowledge,” and investigators have so far found no connection between the suspect and the location of the shooting.
Jared Schmidt, a resident of Rochester Hills, told CBS News that he was in the area when he saw “lots of cars screeching, tires, people racing through the neighborhood and a woman yelling that there was an active shooter.”
Schmidt said he jumped in his car and drove to the splash pad, where he says he found “a lot of blood,” and began administering first aid to the victims, using tourniquets and pressure bandages. He said a friend of his was among the injured.
“I know these people,” Schmidt said. “This is my neighborhood… These are family members… This is terrible.”
Bouchard says as much in his earlier comments referred to the 2021 mass shooting at Oxford High School in the nearby city of Oxford, in which a teenage gunman killed four fellow students.
“It’s obviously a blow to us here in Oakland County. We have experienced so many tragedies,” Bouchard said. “We don’t even fully understand what happened in Oxford, and now we are dealing with another complete tragedy.”
In a statement on social media, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said she was “heartbroken to hear about the shooting in Rochester Hills. We are monitoring the situation as updates continue to come in and are in contact with local officials.”
The city of Rochester Hills is located approximately 25 miles north of Detroit.
