DETROIT – Police are investigating the shooting death of 4-year-old Nathaniel Roby-Townsend on Detroit’s westside.
Police say it happened last night just after 1 a.m. Thursday morning. The shooter drove by the house and opened fire.
Nathaniel's family says normally Nathaniel would have gone with his mother to pick up his father from work but last night he decided to stay with the other kids in the home. His grandmother, Pansy Glaster, said Nathaniel had gotten up to get some chicken for a late night snack and was making his way to the back of the house where the other kids were sleeping when he was shot. According to police he was shot multiple times, including in the head which proved to be a fatal wound.
“We thought he had already made it to the back, but he never made it to the back with the rest of the kids, he was shot. He was shot in the head. I couldn't look at him. I couldn't see my baby like that,”Glaster said, visibly shaking.
Police combed the streets for hours for shell casings and evidence, talking with neighbors and family but by the afternoon were still investigating. The shooter or shooters were still on the run.
“Once again, another cowardly individuals who just can't seem to settle disputes without the use of a firearm we are going to find,” Detroit Police Chief James Craig said in a press conference Thursday afternoon adding there was a person of interest in the case who was recovering form a gunshot wound of his own in the hospital. Police also believe the shooter fled the scene in a white Jeep.
Craig added there had been neighborhood rumors some knew who the killers were and there had already been talk of retaliation which he strongly warned against and instead asked those with information to come forward or contact crime stoppers at 1-800-SPEAKUP.