DETROIT – Two Detroit officers and three others were injured in a crash Monday while police were responding to a shooting that left two students hurt outside Henry Ford High School.
Shooting outside Henry Ford High School
Officers were called around 3:40 p.m. Monday (Nov. 21) to a location about three blocks from Henry Ford High School.
After class was dismissed, a student was near a gray Kia SUV when multiple shots were fired.
“As they were doing dismissals, one of the lieutenants heard gunshots,” Detroit police Chief James White said. “He rushes over to what appears to be a gunshot victim. Once he gets there, he does see that it is, in fact, a gunshot victim.”
White said the 16-year-old boy was struck by at least two gunshots.
“Down the street from this location, just a few yards up, is another gunshot victim, also suffering from two gunshots,” White said. “Apparently, that victim was headed to his grandmother’s car. His grandmother was actually waiting inside the vehicle when he was struck.”
Both shooting victims are in temporary serious condition, and their injuries are not believed to be fatal, according to the chief.
White said police are searching for three males in connection with the shooting. At least two of them were wearing masks.
“They circled this area a couple of times before they did the shooting,” White said.
Officers know who they’re looking for, and they don’t believe the public is in danger.
“This has nothing to do with the school, per se, but the conflict that these two groups are having,” White said. “I’m hearing a lot of different theories on what’s going on. It’s something that happened, perhaps, a few days ago that this one group was retaliating against. But we have our gang intel on the ground, as well, and we’re pulling that information together. I don’t want to put that out there right now because I can’t confirm it.”
The chief said he believes both shooting victims are students at Henry Ford High School, but he’s not sure about the suspect shooter.
White said the suspected shooter is a juvenile, and that person’s identity is known to police.
Officers injured in crash
Local 4 has learned that two Detroit police officers were injured in a crash while responding to the shooting near the high school.
“I hear they’re OK,” White said. “Obviously, they were rushing over here because this came out as a school shooting, but we’ve got to be careful. They’re OK. I’m hearing that the citizens are OK. I’m going to be looking into that when I’m done here.”
The collision involved a Detroit police SUV and a GMC Yukon.
There were three children inside the Yukon -- two 16-year-olds and a 6-year-old. They’re injured, but expected to be OK, according to authorities.
The Detroit police SUV had its lights and sirens activated at the time of the crash, authorities said. It sustained significant front-end damage. The Yukon flipped upside down.
Photos
Here are more photos from the crash scene:
Here are more photos from the shooting scene: