December 25, 2024

At Least 9 Shot at Michigan Splash Park, Police Say

A gunman opened fire at a Michigan splash park on Saturday in what the authorities said was a random attack that left at least nine people, including a child, wounded, the police said.

The shooting occurred at Brooklands Plaza Splash Pad in Rochester Hills, Mich., a Detroit suburb, the authorities said. Officers were called to the scene just after 5 p.m.

“It appears to be a random active shooter,” Michael Bouchard, the Oakland County sheriff, said at a news conference.

“It appears like the individual pulled up, exited a vehicle, approached the splash pad, opened fire, reloaded, opened fire, reloaded, left,” he said.

A Glock 9-millimeter handgun and three empty magazines were recovered at the scene, the sheriff said, adding that the gunman fired up to 28 times.

Officials said they believed that they had the gunman “contained” inside a nearby home.

“We have the house surrounded,” Mr. Bouchard said.

He added that SWAT teams had been deployed as officials tried to communicate with the person inside.

The victims were transported to multiple hospitals, but their conditions were unknown, Sheriff Bouchard said. He added that at least one of them was an 8-year-old child.

Corewell Health, which operates multiple hospitals in the area, said it was treating some of the patients. It did not release additional details.

Rochester Hills is roughly 25 miles north of Detroit and home to about 76,000 people.

Images shared to social media showed a crowd of police and emergency medical workers surrounding a park. Officials could be seen tending to a person on the wet ground of a splash pad — a play area for children fitted with nozzles that spray water — as officers moved bystanders away.