Detroit shootings rise with warmer weather, complicating reduction efforts

Detroit's challenges to curb gun violence this summer

As weather conditions improved, there has been a noticeable increase in the number of shootings in Detroit.

DETROIT (FOX 2) - A week after the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan unveiled a yearly plan to quell gun violence in the summer, there has been an uptick in shootings in rapid succession.

On Thursday alone, within 10 minutes of each other, two separate shooting incidents in Detroit's 8th Precinct resulted in four people being wounded. One man was last listed in critical condition.

The shootings took place within a mile and a half away from each other.

In a one-on-one interview, Detroit Police Chief James White commented on the uptick in shootings.

"One (shooting), in particular, we're very concerned about. It looks like it’s group related, and we’re getting into that with our gang intelligence unit," White said.

Around 11 a.m. on Thursday, on Fielding near Cambridge in Detroit, police said a teen boy and a man were shot. According to investigators, they sustained non-life threatening injuries.

A source close to the investigation said two groups of young people were shooting at each other. White said it appears the victims may have gotten caught in the gunfire.

"We are not convinced that the victims had anything to do with the group, but we’re looking into it," he said. "If anyone in the community has any information on that, it would be helpful if they could notify us and give us anything that they have."

Little over a week ago, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan Dawn Ison rolled out the annual summer surge program – meant to target the most violent criminals, specifically in the 8th and 9th precincts.

"We’re going after the drivers of violence," Ison said. "If someone is there committing those crimes, they will be subjected to federal prosecution immediately,"

The idea is to use strategies that target crime at a time when, historically, in urban settings, gun violence especially goes up.

As a result, FOX 2 asked White if the gun violence on Fielding could end with someone being charged, federally, by Ison’s office.

"If you’re carrying certain weapons and engaged in certain behavior –doesn’t matter where you are in the city of Detroit– throughout the summer months, she’s going to be taking those cases. We'll be making referrals on those cases," White said.

The surge began during Memorial Day weekend. Police did not disclose whether or not any of the shootings that have taken place since then are working their way to the U.S. attorney's office already.

However, police made it clear that they won’t hesitate to pull the trigger on referring gun crimes to the feds during this period.

"If we’ve got this type of violence, and it has the nexus that we've reported to her, we will most certainly make recommendations for prosecution to her office, and she will take those cases," White said.

The shooting on Fielding could be among the first sent up this year.