A Michigan couple suffered serious gunshot wounds while protecting their two young children from a gunman at a neighborhood water park.
Micayla and Eric Coughlin were with their two children, ages 2 and 7 months, grabbing ice cream and heading to the Brooklands Plaza Splash Pad when gunshots were heard around 5 p.m. Saturday.
Just a minute after arriving at the water park, the Coughlins began hearing gunshots. according to a GoFundMe created by your friend.
“In an effort to save their children, they each took a child to protect them,” the fundraiser said.
“Thanks to their heroic actions, their children were protected and able to return home that night.”
Micayla and Eric suffered a total of seven gunshot wounds while heroically saving their children and are being treated at a local hospital.
Also injured in the attack were Eric and Micayla Coughlin, who were trying to protect their two young children.
Other victims of the shooting around 5 p.m. in the Denver suburb of Richmond Hills include the wife of a city employee, who was on the splash pad with 14 family members and friends, three of whom were hit by the bullets. Detroit News reports.
The unidentified woman suffered a broken arm and a gunshot wound to the abdomen.
“When I spoke to her husband, he was shocked, but he is grateful that his family is okay and is focused on supporting them,” said Mayor Bryan Barnett.
Police have said the oldest victim of Saturday night’s shooting was a 78-year-old man who was shot in the abdomen and is in stable condition, while the youngest was a four-year-old boy who was wounded in the thigh. He is also in stable condition.
His mother, a 39-year-old woman, was wounded in the abdomen and leg. According to the sheriff, she is still in critical condition.
In total, nine people were shot at the Brooklands Plaza Splash Pad on Saturday night.
Police say the gunman drove to the splash zone and fired a total of 28 rounds from a 9mm handgun, before fleeing the scene and taking his own life.
Meanwhile, an eight-year-old boy was shot in the head and remains in critical condition.
In total, authorities say gunman Michael William Nash, 42, shot nine people on the splash pad Saturday night before fleeing the scene and taking his own life.
The motive for the shooting remains unclear.
“In terms of ‘why,’ I don’t know,” Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard said.
He noted at an earlier news conference that 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,” he said.
The suspect “apparently was not in a hurry.” “I just calmly walked back to his car,” he added.
No other victims were reported.
But some heartless scammers are now taking advantage of the tragedy to create fake GoFundMe pages, striking a chord with do-gooders.
Police would later also find the vehicle he allegedly drove to the splash site on a nearby property and sent a drone to the gunman’s home.
One claimed to have been created by the husband of one of the victims.
He said his pregnant wife was 29 weeks pregnant and lost the fetus while their eight-year-old son was “fighting for his life.”
But Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard announced Sunday that “the site is a complete fraud.”
“These bottom-feeding bastards are taking advantage of this tragedy,” he said in a statement.
“They have already shown their character.”