Crime

Shots Wound Three People During Downtown Detroit Fireworks Festivities

June 27, 2017, 12:10 AM by  Allan Lengel

Three people were wounded in two separate gunfire incidents Monday night during the festive gathering for the annual downtown fireworks.

A 47-year-old woman police described as a bystander was shot near the Spirit of Detroit statue at Woodward and Jefferson, WDIV's Mara MacDonald reports.   

Police said the woman, who had come to watch the fireworks with family members, was shot in the hip and was transported to a hospital, WDIV reports. The woman was expected to survive. 

The incident happened around 9:50 p.m., several minutes before the sky show began, after two people started arguing. One produced a gun and fired. A stray bullet struck the woman.

A teen and an adult were taken into custody. 

"It was a senseless act of stupidity," Assistant Police Chief Arnold Williams told WDIV during the 11 p.m. newscast. 

Meanwhile, at Cass and Fort, just west of Woodward, two people inside a car were shot by someone standing outside the car during an argument, WDIV says. Williams tried to downplay that shooting, saying there was no indication it was related to the fireworks. One of the victims was shot in the stomach and the other was grazed by a bullet. One victim was a man, the other a woman.

They were transported to the hospital for treatment.

The fireworks have gone off without any serious incidents for many years, the Free Press notes. But some years, there has been violence:

  • In 2013,  a 37-year old man was killed near the Martin Luther King Apartments, about a mile from Hart Plaza.
  • In 2011, a 16-year old girl was shot in the leg as she and her friends walked near Atwater and Beaubien near the Renaissance Center.
  • In 2004, nine people were shot in Hart Plaza following an argument.


Read more:  WDIV


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