DETROIT – An 8-year-old boy is recovering from a gunshot wound suffered while he was asleep in bed on Detroit’s east side.
It happened in the Brewster Douglass homes near I-75 and Mack Avenue.
Detroit police are investigating but believe two vehicles were shooting at each other, and one of those bullets entered the child’s room.
His family said he was shot in the arm but would be okay.
“God was with my cousin, and he kept him here,” said Waliece Cherry.
Cherry recalled the early morning shooting.
“It sounded like fireworks, but when I came to reality, I said, ‘No, it’s gunshots,’” Cherry said.
It was around 3 a.m., and before Cherry could figure out where the shots were coming from, she heard her aunt, the young boy’s mother, screaming for someone to call 911.
Another one of Cherry’s aunts also lived in the complex and said her nephew’s mother called her in a panic.
“To hear her the fear in her voice, to hear her pretty much squeal, and to hear he’d been shot, it was just scary,” said the aunt.
Police said the child was just an innocent bystander.
“We wish people would not resort to gun violence to solve their issues,” said Commander Melissa Gardner of the Detroit Police Department’s 3rd Precinct.
Investigators recovered rifle-style casings at the scene and are still collecting evidence.
While the child was hit near I-75 and Mack Avenue, it’s unclear where the shooting started, and they are seeking video from the public for help.
“We do know there’s a school located in the area that might have video as well as getting ring camera door video,” Gardner said.
The bigger problem is that children are continuing to get shot. DPD data shows as of July 7, 2023, 59 children (ages 17 and younger) were shot in Detroit in 2023, seven of them were killed.
“We are going to act upon these incidents and hopefully get closure to them, and that’s why we look for the partnership with the community residents in the area family members that may know whether it’s the victim or perpetrator that they would come forward and provide us that information,” Gardner said.
“It’s scary to the point where you don’t even want to let your kids outside,” Cherry said. “It’s the summer, they want to come outside and play, but you’re scared to let them come out because you never know where a bullet is going to come flying from.”
Police are still working to get the make and model of the vehicles involved.
If you have video or information on the shooting, call the police or call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-SPEAK UP, where you will remain anonymous.