OAK PARK, Mich. – It was a phone call from a nearby adult bookstore that led police right to serial killer suspect Kenyel Brown, 40, on Monday afternoon.
Brown is a suspect in six homicides, one nonfatal shooting and two carjackings in Metro Detroit. Three of the shootings were in River Rouge, two were in Detroit and one was in Highland Park.
The manhunt for Brown concluded Monday with Brown shooting himself in the head. He was transported to Providence Hospital in Southfield. Click here to listen to police scanner audio from the manhunt.
Search for Metro Detroit serial murder suspect comes to violent end
“He saw him and pulled up his picture and told the clerk, ‘I really think that’s him,’” a witness said.
A janitor working at an adult bookstore spotted Brown.
“The guy heard him and ran out the door and crossed 8 Mile and the janitor called 911,” the witness said.
Brown had been kicked out of the bookstore previously. But this time workers recognized him from news reports and called police.
“He just wanted this criminal out of here. Man was a murderer, we need to get him off the street,” the witness said.
Officials had been on the hunt for Brown for weeks.
“I wouldn’t expect someone like that to be in the state. He can’t be in the right state of mind if he’s wanted and hiding in his neighborhood,” the witness said.
Acting on the tip from the janitor, officers starting searching a neighborhood on the border of Detroit and Oak Park. That’s where they spotted Brown jumping fences.
Local 4 crews were there when officers swarmed a backyard and captured Brown moments after he shot himself in the head.
“It’s just scary. We always have to have a second set of eyes around here, always,” the witness said.