2 dead after pair of car crashes and shoot-out on Detroit's west side; 3 suspects sought

DETROIT (FOX 2) - Two people are dead and three suspects are on the run after a pair of car crashes and a shoot-out in Detroit Friday.

As many as 20 shell casings, scattered the streets this afternoon in the area of Wildemere and Burlingame.

"It was a lot of gunshots that woke me up," said one neighbor. "It's not unusual for this neighborhood (there) is always shooting around here."

The shooting might not be unusual but the chain of events leading up to it, were.

"This is not the usual way accidents are handled and things went so very quickly from 0 to 60," said Detroit Police Chief James White.

Investigators believe a woman driving a car was hit somewhere on the city’s west side by a burgundy pickup truck, that crashed at a separate scene, about two miles away at Wildemere.

When the female driver was hit, she called her crew instead of police, to get involved. Then she followed the burgundy truck where it crashed with a van, killing the driver who was an innocent bystander.

"Sadly the driver of that vehicle who we believe is uninvolved, died from her injuries from the accident," White said.

Seconds later, a black truck showed up with two men inside, who the female driver called for backup. Then a shoot-out happened between the men in the trucks, with the man originally in the burgundy truck, killed.

"We did recover one weapon from him - he was actually laying on the ground with a weapon in his hand," White said.

The car the female was in ended up a mile and a half away off Seward Street. No one was inside, but police found blood inside.

The incident could be a case of road rage, but investigators are wondering the woman called her friends and not police after the initial crash.

"We suspect there could be more to it than what we know right now, but we don't know enough to responsibly say that," the chief said. "But we are looking at all angles."

Detectives are looking for three suspects: The female driver of that car, and two males from the black truck, caught on Ring doorbell footage near this scene.

"The fact that we are so quick to go to weapons to resolve a simple dispute," White said. "We can repair a car, we can fix a car, we can get another car. We can't fix a life. We can't bring people back."

There is a $1,000 reward for any information that helps solve the case. The DPD 10th Precinct at (313) 596-1000. You can also remain anonymous by calling Crime Stoppers at 1-800-SPEAK-UP.