Chaos broke out at a Detroit-area water park after a gunman opened fire on children, injuring up to ten people in what appeared to be a random shooting around 5pm on Saturday.
Gunshots rang out at the Brooklands Plaza Splash Pad at Spencer Park in Rochester Hills with local police department describing it as ‘an active shooter situation.’
The alleged gunman then holed up in a nearby home within half a mile of the splash pad, Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard told Local 4 in a press conference. He added that police, who revealed possibly eight to ten people had been shot, were working on getting a warrant to access the property.
‘It appears very random with no connectivity between the victims,’ Bouchard explained.
Bouchard added that the gunman ‘pulled up, exited a vehicle, approached the splash pad, opened fire, reloaded, opened fire, reloaded. And then left.’
Gunshots rang out at the Brooklands Plaza Splash Pad in Rochester Hills on Saturday evening
Possibly up to eight people have been shot. The victims include children and adults
Police were on the scene within two minutes of the attack after a deputy was alerted to gunshots having been fired through the use of the city’s new 911 tech.
Stephen Huber, a spokesman for the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office, previously said the victims were of various ages including children and adults, with the youngest just eight years old.
‘It’s a gut-punch,’ Bouchard said. ‘We’re not fully comprehending what happened at Oxford and now we have another complete tragedy that we’re dealing with.’
By the time he fled the scene, the gunman had fired 28 rounds with a 9mm pistol and three empty magazines were recovered by investigators, Fox 2 Detroit reported.
No description of the shooter has been released but negotiators and a police SWAT team have cornered him outside the house he holed up inside.
Oakland County Police were quick to spring into action and block off surrounding streets
Police snipers could be seen patrolling the area on the hunt for the shooting suspect
Authorities initially sent out their active shooter earlier in the evening.
‘We had an active shooter at the splash pad on Auburn in Rochester Hills. 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,’ Oakland County Sheriff’s Office said just before 7:30pm on Saturday evening.
The city-run splash pad faces Auburn Road and id located between a T-Mobile cell phone store and Mozzarella’s, a pizzeria, west of the plaza.
Streets close to the splash pad park were closed by police and emergency personnel Saturday evening.
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