A 15-year-old boy from Ferndale is currently on life support after being shot at the Westin Hotel in Southfield, in a shocking incident involving underage teens and firearms. Authorities were called to the scene around 8:45 a.m. on Sunday, Feb. 11, where they discovered the boy with a gunshot wound to the head, ClickOnDetroit reported.
The teen, yet to be expected to make a recovery is a student at Loyola High School, where grief counselors have been made available for staffers and peers. As per a FOX 2 Detroit interview with a family friend, the boy described as "just a normal 15-year-old kid," is fighting hard for his life in a hospital. Southfield Police Chief Elvin Barren emphasized the tragedy of the situation during a news conference, calling such events "totally preventable."
Initial investigations have pointed to negligence by an adult who rented the hotel room and left it unsupervised for the boy and four others. Two firearms were retrieved from the waistband of another 15-year-old from Detroit, who was taken into custody by the police. One of those weapons was later identified as a stolen Glock with an extended magazine and a laser sight, while details about the second gun's origins remain unknown, according to details from CBS News.
Further charges against the teen who had the firearms may be announced, as the authorities continue to try to determine who was responsible for setting up the hotel room for the juveniles, indicating that additional adults might face charges in connection to the event. Besides firearms, paraphernalia indicative of drug use such as marijuana, psychedelic mushrooms, and a scale were also found at the scene, as detailed by Southfield Police.
Southfield Police Department, still anchoring the ongoing investigation, is urging anyone with information to contact them. Anonymous tips can be made through Crime Stoppers at 1-800-SPEAK-UP.
