Detroit ShotSpotter locations leaked • Mom shot while driving with children in car • Leap Day history

THURSDAY NEWS HIT - The locations of Detroit's ShotSpotter gunshot detecting microphones were recently leaked in an article, locations Detroit police didn't even have. 

The secret information was leaked from Sound Thinking, the company behind ShotSpotter, and made public through WIRED. These microphones alert police to potential gunshots. 

To determine where the sensors should be placed, police give ShotSpotter the areas where high rates of "shots-fired" incidents are occurring, and then the company places the sensors. A map from WIRED shows a large cluster of the detectors on both the east and west sides of the city. 

"What it points to is a lack of good security on the part of the companies that are providing the service," said Scotty Boman of the Detroit Residents Advancing Civilian Oversight.

Willie Burton, on Detroit’s Board of Commissioners, said he welcomes the publishing of the secret sensor locations.

"It’s definitely transparent, and it shows accountability when this article is out there for the public," Burton said. "This technology is definitely not… saving lives. It’s definitely unconstitutional. It violates civil liberties, our constitutional rights every single day."

Road rage suspect shoots at car with children inside

A road rage incident in Detroit led to a woman firing shots at a car that had three children inside, striking their mother.

It happened Wednesday near I-94 and Moross.

"We had 2 female drivers – one was coming off the freeway, another one was at the stop sign at the freeway, but she decided she didn’t want to stop," said Detroit Deputy Chief Arnold Williams.

The driver who ran the stop sign pulled up to the other vehicle, words were exchanged, and the driver fired shots at the mother, according to police.

"The sad part about this is that she fired a shot into a vehicle that was occupied with three children under the age of 10," Williams said.

The children were not harmed, police said. The mother, who suffered non-life threatening injuries, is in stable condition. The shooter fled.

History of Leap Day

It’s that time, again: Just about every four years (but not quite), the western calendar adds a day – Feb. 29 – in what’s known as leap year and leap day.

Leap year exists, in large part, to keep the months in sync with annual events, like equinoxes and solstices, according to the Jet Propulsion Laboratory at the California Institute of Technology. It’s a correction to counter the fact that Earth’s orbit isn’t precisely 365 days a year. The trip takes about six hours longer than that, NASA says.

Without a leap year about every four years (but not quite), the seasons wouldn’t align with when farmers plant, and chaos could ensue. 

Historically, it’s been more complicated for leaplings to fill out paperwork like health forms, insurance policies and other things that require birthdays, though technology has helped and fewer leaplings have to choose between Feb. 28 and March 1 as a birthday.

Learn about the history of Leap Day and some things that have happened on past Leap Days:

Dog owners charged after fatal mauling

The owners of three dogs that mauled a Detroit man to death earlier this year are now facing charges.

Roy Eric Goodman, 40, and Trevina Quiche Goodman, 38, are charged with dangerous animal causing death stemming from the Jan. 29 attack of Harold Phillips, who died Feb. 2.

Phillips was walking home from a bus stop in the area of West Chicago and Longacre when the dogs escaped through an unsecured gate and mauled him. He suffered severe injuries and was on life support for days before dying. 

Nonprofit housing director charged in 'deed fraud' scheme

The woman tasked with running the homeownership program for a Detroit nonprofit and helping people avoid losing their homes to foreclosure was named in a federal complaint for her role in stealing dozens of properties.

Zina Thompson, 60, of Detroit, was charged in a fraud scheme by the U.S. Attorney's Office, a release from the department said Wednesday. Prior to her arrest, she served as director of Homeownership Programs for the United Community Housing Coalition in Detroit.

The nonprofit provides housing assistance to the city's low-income residents.

Thomas used her position as director to coordinate with other individuals to steal 30 properties across Wayne County. The scheme involved her and others filing multiple fake quitclaim deeds, "frequently transferring the target properties from the victim-owners to non-existent ‘interim owners’ before ultimately selling the properties to unwitting third parties."

Live on FOX 2

Daily Forecast

Wind chills are in the teens to start the day, but temperatures start rising after today.

What else we're watching

1. The National Weather Service confirmed that an EF-2 tornado touched down in Grand Blanc on Wednesday morning.
2. One person is dead after a fiery single-car crash on Belle Isle.
3. A Warren man is facing charges after authorities say he hit and killed a woman while he was allegedly intoxicated and driving a snowplow.
4. Detroit Police Chief James White was recognized at the White House this week for historically low crime rates in the city.
5. The full Movement Music Festival lineup is now out. See it here.

Supreme Court split on federal bump stock ban challenged by Texas gun store owner

The Supreme Court is debating a Texas case that could determine if firearm accessories known as bump stocks violate federal law.

The Trump administration banned bump stocks after the deadly mass shooting in Las Vegas, but the ban was put on hold.

This comes down to whether the justices believe the accessory makes a weapon a machine gun. Those supporting bump stocks say there is still a manual action taken by the shooter.

David Prince, owner of Eagle Gun Range in Farmers Branch, explained some of the mechanics of bump stocks.

"When the recoil sets, it lets the firearm go forward," he explained. "And you end up pulling the trigger every time the firearm goes forward."

Read more here.