At least 9 shot with child, 8, among victims in Rochester Hills mass shooting as active shooter opens fire at splash pad
AT least nine people have been shot at a park in Michigan after a gunman opened fire at a children’s splash pad, according to cops.
Police swarmed Spencer Park in Rochester Hills and warned the public to stay away as they work to take a shooter into custody.
A SWAT team has the suspect surrounded inside a home about a half-mile from the park.
Hours earlier, the gunman pulled up to the park, got out of his car, and started shooting toward the splash pad, seemingly at random, Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard said.
The gunman fired at least 28 shots, reloading several times, at around 5:15 pm.
“One of our sergeants from Rochester Hills was actually listening to a new technology we deploy called Live 911,” the sheriff said.
“He heard the call come in before it was even dispatched and immediately self-directed himself to this. He was on scene within two minutes.”
Bouchard said the victim tally is fluid but he estimated nine or 10 people were shot.
He couldn’t give any details on the extent of the injuries to the wounded but said an 8-year-old was among the victims.
Police were able to find the shooter by tracing the vehicle at the scene to the nearby home.
Cops recovered a 9mm Glock semi-automatic handgun and magazines at the scene but they believe the suspect could have more weapons.
“It’s a gut punch, obviously, for us here in Oakland County,” Bouchard said referencing a 2021 shooting at a high school in the area.
“We’re not fully comprehending what happened at Oxford and now we have another complete tragedy that we’re dealing with.”
COPS RUSH TO PARK
The city-run Spencer Park is located in Rochester Hills, which is roughly 24 miles north of Detroit.
Video from the crime scene showed multiple people being carried away on stretchers from the splash pad.
“We had an active shooter at the splash pad on Auburn in Rochester Hills,” the sheriff’s office wrote in an initial update.
“That is still an active crime scene and we potentially have the suspect contained nearby, but we asked for the moment people stay away from the area.
“We have numerous wounded victims. More to follow.”
People who live near the park got an alert on their phones which read, “Oakland County Sheriff: Active shooter located near Spencer Park in Rochester Hills. AVOID area and SEEK shelter.”
One witness shared a video of cops and paramedics caring for the wounded as crime scene tape blocked off the splash pad.
‘I STARTED CRYING’
Parents clung to their kids in the footage as someone was rushed away on a stretcher.
“A mass shooting at a water park in my neighborhood of Rochester Hills. I started crying,” the witness wrote.
“Whoever did this shooting is not caught and running in my neighborhood.”
Another person said their father was among the injured.
“My dad was just rushed via ambulance to Troy Beaumont,” they wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.
“We were not allowed into the hospital parking because they are on lockdown. Police blocking all entrances. We called and they won’t give us information on my dad because of the active shooter situation.”
Other locals shared their horror on social media.
“They shot up a splash pad where little kids play,” one person wrote on X.
Another person who appeared to be in the area wrote, “Shooting at Spencer Park in Rochester Hills. Road around is blocked off by police.
“Stay aware and careful if going by. This is heartbreaking.”
And a third person said, “What has this world come to!!OMG! At a splash pad!!”
ROCKED BY TRAGEDIES
The scene of Saturday’s mass shooting is 20 miles from Oxford High School, where Ethan Crumbley shot and killed four students in 2021.
Tate Myre, 16, Hana St Juliana, 14, Justin Shilling, 17, and Madisyn Baldwin, 17, died in the shooting and seven others were wounded.
Ethan, who was 15 when he gunned down his schoolmates, was sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole.
His parents, James and Jennifer Crumbley, were also charged in connection to the shooting and sentenced to 10 to 15 years in prison.
They are the first parents of a mass school shooter to be held criminally responsible in the United States.
