(WXYZ) — Multiple people were shot and two people, including the gunman, were killed in a domestic incident in Highland Township on Wednesday.
Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard said during a press conference that a 42-year-old man went to the home of his in-laws at a condo in the 400 block of Delmar Court and smashed through a sliding glass door before fatally shooting his father-in-law and then shooting and injuring his wife and mother-in-law.
Bouchard said the first 911 call came in around 8:33 a.m. from a child within the home. The child was reportedly a cousin and was unsure of the address.
When deputies arrived minutes later, we’re told they were able to get the child out of the house safely before hearing screaming and gunshots coming from upstairs.
Bouchard said when the deputies made it upstairs, they saw the suspect striking the wife and ordered him to drop his weapon before he reportedly confronted them and was shot and killed.
The sheriff said the suspect didn’t park anywhere near the home and was wearing gloves and carrying a stolen firearm, describing his actions as coming to the home “with murderous intent."
Three children were reportedly in the home at the time of the incident and were uninjured. Two of the children reportedly belonged to the husband and wife.
The 37-year-old wife and 70-year-old mother-in-law are currently being treated at a nearby hospital for their injuries.
Bouchard said the 69-year-old father-in-law who was shot and killed may have been trying to go to the bedroom possibly to get a weapon to defend his family.
“That’s a dad being a dad right … he’s going to defend his daughter and he dies doing it,” Bouchard said.
The gunman reportedly had a criminal history. Officials also note they had been called to the Dearborn Heights home, where the husband and wife had previously lived, on complaints of family trouble, larceny, domestic violence and malicious destruction of property.
“It’s hard for me to wrap my head around an individual who can go to the home of someone he professed to love – at least some point in his life – with the intent to kill them,” Bouchard said in a press release. “Preliminary information leads me to believe that our deputies saved lives today and rushed towards the gunfire. I’m very proud every day of what they do, but today puts an exclamation point on it.”
