DETROIT – Detroit Police Chief Ralph Godbee said the shooting death of a 9-month-old baby is unacceptable and that a "tremendous" amount of resources were working to solve the crime.
Delric Miller III was killed Monday morning when gunfire erupted into a house on the city's west side.
Godbee said someone walked up to the house in the 8400 block of Greenview Avenue just after 4 a.m. and shot 37 bullets into the home with an assault rifle.
Family and friends gathered Monday night to hold a candlelight vigil.
Watch: Uncut interview with Godbee
Miller's mother, 19-year-old Diamond Salter, said she was inside the home with her two children and several other people when the bullets began tearing through the house.
"We were asleep. They started shooting and we ran to the basement," Salter said. "He was on the couch. I grabbed him when I ran to the basement. I thought he was alive. When I started feeling for him, he was dead."
Miller was hit by the spray of bullets. He was rushed to Sinai-Grace Hospital, but later died.
No one else was hurt.
"Who would do something like this? They knew it would be a bunch of kids in a house and come shoot up a house? It don't make no type of sense. I got to live without my son," Salter said.
IMAGES: Family, police react to baby's death
No arrests have been made.
At a news conference about the shooting, Godbee said he was "really pissed off" about the situation. He said the shooting was gang-related and the gunman might have taken off in a light colored minivan.
"Adult behavior has brought another child in Detroit to the end," Godbee said. "This is not a beef between adults, now you have dragged an innocent child into this."
Detroit Police Homicide had been working the case since early Monday morning. Police say they know who they are looking for but people who know who is responsible will not speak.
Crime Stoppers is offering a $5,000 reward. Anonymous tips can be left at 800-SPEAKUP.
-- Family and friends gathered Monday night to hold a candlelight vigil.