An unfortunate incident left three people injured at Detroit's Eastern Market after an employee mishandled a firearm inside a restaurant yesterday afternoon. The Detroit News reported that a 52-year-old employee was handling a gun, which he claimed to have found, when it discharged, injuring him and two customers.
The mishap occurred around 12:20 p.m. at a restaurant located in the 2900 block of Russell Street. The single bullet passed through the employee's hand and continued through a doorway to strike two men, ages 46 and 33. The employee was hospitalized, and the two customers were treated for non-life-threatening injuries at the scene, with one man wounded in the forearm and the other grazed on the wrist, as noted by CBS Detroit.
Assistant Chief Charles Fitzgerald of the Detroit Police described the event as "one of the craziest, silliest things I've seen in quite some time," and emphatically stated, "The bottom line is if you don't know how to handle a weapon, don't handle a weapon," as per a statement obtained by the Detroit Free Press. Fitzgerald further commented on the unwitting bystanders, saying, "We've got two other individuals that were just in the store trying to buy stuff — now they're going to deal with a gunshot wound, no matter how minor it is."
While the employee claimed the gun was simply found at the restaurant, the Detroit Police are still investigating to confirm the origin of the firearm and once the investigation concludes, their findings are expected to be turned over to the Wayne County Prosecutor's Office for review. In the wake of the shooting, community members like Larry Whitfield expressed relief that there were no fatalities, yet underscored a palpable sense of vulnerability, "It could've been me. Sometimes, I buy meat out of there. I'm just glad nobody got killed," Whitfield recounted in an interview with CBS Detroit.
