Violence erupted at a Detroit park last night leaving four injured, including two children and a pregnant teen in a shooting that escalated from a fight between two women, authorities said. The incident, which occurred at Stein Park on the city's west side, drew a large police response after a ShotSpotter alert. Detroit Police Chief James White reported that two female teenagers, one of whom was pregnant, and two young children were the unintended victims of the gunfire, as reported by The Detroit News.
The shooting broke out around 8:55 p.m. following an altercation between the women. After the altercation, one woman "got the best of the other one," she called for a male companion who then came to the scene armed and opened fire, according to Chief White. The children, ages 3 and 6, along with the teenagers were caught in the line of fire. "It's frustrating. We have to keep our kids safe, I've said it many times," Chief White said, per The Detroit News.
The pregnant victim, among those seriously injured, was hospitalized as was the second teenager. The two children were in stable condition following the shooting, White elaborated. As the community reels from yet another incidence of gun violence, Dujuan "Zoe" Kennedy, an organizer with the community violence intervention group Force Detroit, emphasized the urgency of the situation. "It’s a tragedy that this escalated to the point where children were shot. At no point is this acceptable to our community," Kennedy stated, as per the Detroit Free Press.
As the search continues for the suspected shooter and female accomplice, residents have expressed their fear and dismay. A neighbor, who gave his name as Donte, recounted his horrified reaction upon discovering one of the young women wounded, "I went over and saw one of the girls drowning in her own blood. I took off my shirt and put it up under her head and tried to patch the hole up because she got shot in the face," he recounted, as per FOX 2 Detroit.
The cause of the initial dispute remains unclear, and the community's sense of safety is rattled by the knowledge that the perpetrators remain at large, as neighbor Ed Lacey reflected to FOX 2 Detroit, "I’ve been keeping up with it, and I can barely sleep at night thinking about those kids." The Detroit Police Department urges anyone with information to come forward as they work to piece together the events leading up to the tragic incident.
