HIGHLAND TOWNSHIP, Mich. – Oakland County Sheriff’s deputies rushed into a Highland Township condo and killed a man who had killed his father-in-law, shot his mother-in-law and was assaulting his wife, officials said.
The shooting happened on Wednesday, March 22, 2023, at a condominium on Delmar Court in Highland Township. Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard said the suspect, a 42-year-old Dearborn Heights man, smashed through a sliding glass door and broke into the condo.
The condo belonged to the suspect’s in-laws. Officials said the suspect’s wife and two children had moved in with her parents while she took steps toward divorcing the suspect.
His wife, mother-in-law, father-in-law, two children and another child -- a cousin -- were in the home when the suspect smashed through the glass door. His wife “made a frantic call” to 911. One of the children, an 8-year-old girl, also made calls to 911. Bouchard said the calls were “disjointed” because the girl was not familiar with the address of the home and the calls got disconnected more than once.
The first call to 911 came in at 8:33 a.m. Officers were on the scene by 8:37 a.m. When deputies arrived, they heard screaming and gunfire and rushed into the home. “We don’t contain and we haven’t contained for a long time. We rush in and listen for stimulus -- meaning screams or gunfire,” Bouchard said.
Deputies followed the sound of screaming upstairs and found the suspect on a second-floor balcony. Investigators said he was on top of his wife striking her. Deputies told the suspect to drop “everything” as it was unclear what he was hitting his wife with. He refused the orders and officers shot him.
Investigators believe the suspect shot and killed his father-in-law in a bedroom, shot his mother-in-law in the same bedroom and then shot his wife upstairs. The three children were not injured.
Because the suspect, his wife and the children at the home share the same surname officials have decided to not release their names. The father-in-law has been identified as a 69-year-old man, he died at the scene. The suspect’s mother-in-law, 70, and the suspect’s wife, 37, are being treated at a hospital for non-life-threatening injuries.
The suspect and his wife were residents of Dearborn Heights. Police had previously been called to their home on complaints of family trouble, larceny, domestic violence, and malicious destruction of property. The weapon used in the shooting has been recovered, it was a pistol that was registered to his wife. She reported the firearm missing two weeks before the attack.
The suspect has previous drug and assault convictions, he was a felon and was not allowed to possess, own or carry a firearm. “None of that mattered to him given his murderous intent,” Bouchard said.
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