Nine People, Including 2 Children, Injured In Shooting At Michigan Splash Pad

ROCHESTER HILLS, Mich. (AP) — Nine people were injured, including an 8-year-old boy who was struck in the head and was in critical condition, after a shooter opened fire at a splash pad in a Detroit suburb where families gathered to escape the summer heat Saturday. Law enforcement tracked a suspect to a home, where the person died by suicide, authorities said.

At least two of the victims were children, officials said. Authorities initially said they believed as many as 10 people had gunshot wounds from the shooting in Rochester Hills, but that number was revisedlater on after they checked with area hospitals.

Oakland County Sheriff Mike Bouchard provided the information about the 8-year-old during a nighttime news conference. He also said the boy’s 4-year-old brother was wounded in the leg and in stable condition, while the child’s mother was critical after being wounded in the abdomen and leg.

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 5 p.m. at a city park featuring a recreation area with a non-slip surface where people can turn on sprays and fountains of water to play in. Bouchard said it the shooting 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.

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.

Police heard the 911 call reporting the shooting as it came