HARPER WOODS, Mich. – A 19-year-old who allegedly shot his mother and his mother’s boyfriend on Friday in Harper Woods was charged, according to officials.
Demond Burgen Jr. is being charged with two counts of first-degree premeditated homicide and two counts of felony firearm. The 19-year-old has a bond set for $1,000,000 and has an examination date scheduled for Sept. 21 at 1:30 p.m.
According to authorities, the shooting occurred on Sept. 2 at the teen’s home, which is also his mother’s home, on Woodside Street near Moross and Kelly roads. When police arrived at the scene, the standoff escalated into a barricaded situation.
The Harper Woods and Grosse Pointe Special response teams worked to negotiate with the suspected shooter to give himself up.
“We were talking, and we heard two shots, two large pops, and we both looked down there at the same time when we saw the gentleman running from the side of the house,” said neighbor Carl Williams. “The gentlemen they put into custody, I guess that’s who it was.”
Previous coverage from Sept. 2:
Two people were shot and one person is in custody after an armed standoff took place Friday in Harper Woods, officials say.
The standoff began around 1:30 p.m. Friday (Sept. 2) at a home on Woodside Street between Kelly Road and Beaconsfield Street.
Local 4 saw police cars outside, and some people were brought out of the house.
Police say the incident involved a 19-or-20-year-old man, and the circumstances around the original call are unclear.
As things stand now the scene is quiet. It’s going to take a while to get the specifics down on this situation which appears to have been a violent domestic dispute.
The incident ended up being a barricaded gunman situation that took quite some time to resolve.
Harper woods police spent much of the afternoon outside the house seen in the video player above on Woodside Street which left two people injured and taken away in an ambulance.
It was uncertain whether anyone was shot, but the situation turned violent enough for initial officers responding to call in the Special Response Team. Negotiations started with a young man willing to give himself up as they were talking through the windows.
Neighbor Carl Williams told Local 4 what he was from a good distance down the street.
“We were talking, and we heard two shots, two large pops, and we both looked down there at the same time when we seen the gentleman running from the side of the house,” said Williams. “The gentlemen they put into custody, I guess that’s who it was.”
Harper Woods Police Chief Jason Hammerle told Local 4 that Williams likely heard the SR team’s assault on the house that happened after negotiations bogged down.
“What they probably heard was the flash bangs when the swat team made entry,” said Hammerle. “That’s a loud grenade-type noise they likely heard, and I do recall hearing two of those go off.”
When officers stormed the home, they brought in the police negotiator and talked to the young man, aged 19, about giving up.
It took 15 minutes, but they took him into custody.
No officers or the young man were hurt.
“It’s a message sent, you know, that you got to watch it,” Williams said. “You don’t ever know what’s going to happen.”
