Michael William Nash, 42, has been identified as the man who shot into a splash pad in Rochester Hills, Michigan, wounding nine people, the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office revealed Sunday morning.
The shooting took place on Saturday at 5 pm at Brooklands Plaza Splash Pad, and Nash is alleged to have fired 28 bullets at families there that day. the detroit free press reported.
The gunman fled the scene to a nearby home less than a half-mile from the splash pad, leading to a tense standoff that lasted several hours and ended when the shooter, described as a 42-year-old white man who lived with his mother, , died by suicide.
Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard told reporters in an impromptu update that Nash had no criminal record and was believed to have mental health issues.
Among the nine people shot was a group of three people who are part of the same family. One of them was an eight-year-old boy who was shot in the head and remains in critical condition. Another was a four-year-old boy who was wounded in the thigh but is stable, while a 39-year-old woman was hit in the abdomen and leg. According to the sheriff, she is still in critical condition.
The oldest victim was a 78-year-old man who was shot in the abdomen and is in stable condition.
Detectives are still investigating Nash’s possible motive because they have not yet found a connection between him and his victims.
Bouchard, in an earlier news conference, said the shooting “seems very random.”
“It appears the individual stopped, exited a vehicle, approached the splash pad, opened fire, reloaded, opened fire, reloaded and drove away,” Bouchard said.
At the scene, police found a 9mm Glock pistol and three corresponding magazines.
Nash committed suicide at a Shelby Township home after being surrounded by police for several hours following the attack on the splash pad.
Bouchard said his department made numerous unsuccessful attempts to contact the suspect, at which point they sent drones to examine the home. That’s when Nash was found dead.
Even more chilling, a semi-automatic weapon was found on the kitchen table inside the house where Nash was barricaded. Bouchard suggested that Nash might have had plans for a “second chapter.”
“It’s a punch in the gut,” Bouchard said at an earlier news conference. “We don’t fully understand what happened at Oxford and now we have another complete tragedy we are facing.”
The city-run splash pad faces Auburn Road and is located between a T-Mobile cell phone store and Mozzarella’s, a pizzeria, west of the plaza.
Streets near the water park were closed by police and emergency personnel Saturday night.
Michigan Congressman John James said he was downtown on Huntington Place attending former President Donald Trump’s speech at Turning Point USA when he heard news of the shooting and rushed to the scene to provide support.
“Under no circumstances in this country, particularly in Rochester Hills, should fathers spend Father’s Day in a hospital,” he said.
‘We are doing everything we can to help families in need. “And (I want to) thank the first responders who mitigated major damage and are still in danger to resolve this crisis.”
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer added in a tweet: “My heart hurts to hear about the shooting in Rochester Hills. We are monitoring the situation as updates continue to come in and are in contact with local officials.”
