Multiple people shot at Michigan splash pad park, suspect dead: Police

Nine people were shot, including two children and a pregnant woman, when a 42-year-old gunman allegedly unleashed a barrage of nearly 30 rounds at a splash pad park in Michigan Saturday afternoon, authorities said.

The Oakland County Sheriff’s office said the suspect was found dead after the shooting near the Brooklands Plaza Splash Pad in Rochester Hills, about 25 miles north of Detroit, Saturday evening.

The suspect was identified by the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office as Michael William Nash. He died by suicide, police said.

The shooting victims ranged in age from 4 to 78, police said.

Three of the victims, including an 8-year-old boy, underwent surgery Saturday night, Oakland County Executive Director Dave Coulter said at a news conference on Sunday. Coulter said the conditions of the three victims were not immediately disclosed.

The other victims were listed in stable condition.

Two GoFundMe fundraisers have been established for victims of the shooting. One of the fundraisers is for a woman who was 29 weeks pregnant and was shot in the stomach. The woman’s husband, Kyle J. Thompson, wrote that the unborn baby, a girl, did not survive.

The other GoFundMe fundraiser was for Micayla and Eric Coughlin, a Rochester Hills couple who were both shot multiple times while protecting their two daughters, ages 2 years old and 7 months old. According to the GoFundMe statement, the couple and their children had just gotten ice cream and arrived at the splash pad just as the shooting was breaking out.

Oakland County Sheriff Mike Bouchard told reporters that preliminary information shows the shooting appeared to be random. The suspect allegedly exited a vehicle, opened fire on the splash pad, reloaded, opened fire again and then left, Bouchard said.

The suspect allegedly fired 28 rounds, according to the sheriff.

The 8-year-old boy was struck in the head and was initially listed in critical condition, the sheriff said. A 4-year-old boy was struck in the thigh and was in stable condition, he said. Their mother, 39, was in critical condition with injuries to her abdomen and legs, the sheriff said.

A sergeant monitoring a live 911 channel heard the first call come in at 5:11 p.m. on Saturday, officials said. Officers arrived at the scene within 2 minutes, but the suspect had already fled, Bouchard said.

Officers said they recovered a semi-automatic handgun and three magazines at the scene. An AR-15-style rifle was found on a table at the suspect’s home, he said.

Bouchard said Nash, the suspect, had no criminal history and was living with his mother.

Following the shooting, Nash was found at a residence in Shelby Township, the Rochester Police Department said in a statement. Members of a SWAT unit surrounded the residence and attempted to make contact with Nash, who was later found dead from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound, police said.

“Yesterday’s horrific shooting of nine people, including two young boys, at a splash pad in Rochester Hills is just another appalling example of senseless violence. Unfortunately in my five years as a county executive, this is now my second mass shooting. We’re getting all too good at this and I’m disgusted by it,” said Coulter, referring to a 2021 mass shooting at Oxford High School that left four students dead.

Coulter said Oakland County is teaming with Oakland County Health Network to offer counseling services to anyone affected by Saturday’s shooting.

“I am heartbroken to learn about the shooting in Rochester Hills. We are monitoring the situation as updates continue to come in, and are in touch with local officials,” Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said on X.

Rochester Hills Mayor Brian Barnett said at Sunday’s news conference that the past 24 hours “have been a nightmare.”

“I’ve been blessed to be the mayor of this city for 18 years, and never thought I’d see my city in the same sentence as some of the other cities that have experienced mass shootings,” said an emotional Barnett.