Neighbor dispute in Pontiac escalates to quadruple shooting that killed 3
PONTIAC, Mich. - "...like Christmas and Saigon."
That's how Arnold Brown described the scene at the former apartment complex he used to live at after more than a dozen police cars arrived, painting the Pontiac neighborhood with red and blue lights Wednesday night.
Officers were responding to reports of gunfire at the Spring Lake Village apartments at the 200 block of Carriage Circle Drive around 9 p.m. last night. There, they found four shooting victims on the front porch, inside the home, and on the front lawn of the residence.
"I heard gunfire and I'm like what - where did that come from. Then I hear ambulances and sirens and everything and when I came down here, people were just laid out," said Needo Cooks, who has lived in the neighborhood for the last 24 years.
The Oakland County Sheriff's office is investigating the incident as a triple homicide.
A news release from the department said police found the victim on the porch already dead. The three other victims were taken to a hospital where two others succumbed to their injuries shortly after arrival. The fourth victim remains in serious condition.
Police say the incident stemmed from an ongoing dispute between neighbors, as well as a previous assault that took place in 2014 between the parties involved.
The victims were reportedly found on the shooter's front porch. The suspect then proceeded to go outside armed with a handgun and opened fire on the victims, before fleeing.
Among those killed was the cousin of Pontiac City Council President Kermin Williams.
"We just got these apartments renovated maybe seven years ago now, and so to see this - especially one of the victims I watched grow up, it's just heartbreaking," said Williams.
"This has been the toughest year for everybody, but for Pontiac especially and now to have this - it's just so sad. But we still have hope, and we just need to wrap our arms around everybody here. I just pray with the families and I'm asking the viewers to do the same thing."
While officials from the Sheriff's Office Forensic Laboratory and an investigator from the Oakland County Medical Examiner's Office were on scene, the shooter, 32, turned himself in at the Pontiac station.
He was lodged at the county jail after being interviewed.
The victims that were killed were all men from Pontiac, ages 28, 29, and 39. The victim who remains in serious condition is 25 years old.