Michigan authorities’ response to recent mass shootings • Michigan Advance

While one Michigan town tore down the fence around a wading pool where families ran for their lives from a gunman, another town is mourning the shooting at a street festival that left two people dead and 19 injured – the largest shooting in the state’s history.

Three weeks after seven adults and two children were shot by a man at the Brooklands Plaza Splash Pad in Rochester Hills over Father’s Day weekend, several people fired shots at an illegal street party in Detroit early Sunday morning, Detroit Police Chief James White said at a news conference Monday.

“Everyone deserves a safe summer, a safe event,” said White, who, as a Detroit native, expressed regret that the tragedy had affected so many young people, noting that the victims included teenagers and people in their twenties.

9 people shot at a water playground in Detroit, including 4- and 8-year-old siblings and their mother

In the first week of July, 27 people were shot at six illegal summer festivals in Detroit, White said. These illegal gatherings take place without notice to the city and without permission from neighbors, with hundreds of participants blocking streets.

“We’re not talking about the usual barbecues. This is not what we all grew up with in Detroit and look forward to. I mean, Detroit is a beautiful city. In the summer, everyone likes to have these parties and barbecues. These are not the ones we’re talking about,” White said. “We’re talking about events where large crowds of people from all over the state, from as far as 50 miles away, show up armed, often with a sense of lawlessness, occupying the streets, parking, blocking driveways and things like that.”

White said Sunday’s shooting – in which about 300 people were present and nine weapons were recovered from the scene – had one of the highest death tolls in a mass shooting in the United States, with 21 victims. according to the Gun Violence Archive from data dating back to 2014. This is the highest number of victims of a mass murder ever recorded in Michigan.

White and Mayor of Detroit Mike Duggan spoke at the press conference about the city’s measures to combat illegal street parties and urged interested parties to talk to their neighbors in advance and report illegal gatherings.

The recent spate of gun violence at illegal street festivals is painful for all of Detroit, which has fought successfully in recent years to Reducing violent crimesaid Duggan.

“But in one week, the first week of July, current developments threaten to undo years of progress, and we are saying today that we will do something about it,” Duggan said.

Detroiters know they will receive approval from the Detroit Police Department to close a street, with the consent of 75% of their neighbors, to close a street for an event, neighborhood police officers will coordinate the safety of those in attendance to celebrate with their neighbors, Duggan said. He urged Detroiters to be vigilant during these large gatherings late at night where streets are blocked and neighbors are made “hostage” in their own homes while violent behavior continues outside.

“I want to make sure we can distinguish between legal and illegal parties, because in Detroit we enjoy summer in the neighborhoods. Backyard barbecues are a tradition in this city and we want that tradition to continue. … We want these types of fun events to go on the rest of the summer without incident. That’s not what we’re talking about here,” Duggan said.

“You know the difference between your neighbor’s family getting a little loud and lots of strangers showing up on your street, parking on the lawn and sidewalk, blocking your driveway, underage children standing outside after curfew, and loud neighborhood noise. You know the difference. Call 911. Call early.”

Detroit knows how to safely host large gatherings, White said. Last summer, the city welcomed thousands of people to concerts by Taylor Swift and Beyoncé and set a record attendance of 775,000 fans at the NFL Draft in April.

At the press conference, community leaders called for early intervention in schools to resolve conflicts and attention to community mental health. Teferi Brent called on State Board of Education President Pamela Pugh to Initiative for peaceful schools in every school in southeast Michigan.

“We need all hands on deck. The police can’t do this alone. The prosecutors and judges can’t do this alone. … We need every individual, every leader, every servant, every institution in this city to address this problem of violence in our community. This is the number one problem in our community,” Brent said. “We shouldn’t be talking about 21 people being shot. This isn’t a mass shooting. This is a war zone. Our children shouldn’t be growing up in a war zone and being forced to live in one.”

In Oakland County, the last victim of the shooting at the Brooklands Plaza Splash Pad in Rochester Hills was able to go home from the hospital on Friday. It was a mother who was seriously injured while protecting her two sons, aged 4 and 8who were also shot by a man who Open fire on families at the overcrowded paddling pool.

The investigation into the shooting and the gunman, who the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office identified as 42-year-old Michael William Nash, is ongoing. But police have expressed that the shooting appears to have been random and that the county may never fully understand why he openly fired on parents, grandparents and children that day.

“While we are incredibly happy that all of the victims of the shooting have left the hospital, we know they still have a long road to recovery, both physically and mentally,” Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard said in a statement Friday. “Our support continues to be with the victims and we will continue to seek any information that may shed light on the shooter’s motive.”