PORT HURON, Mich. – A father is being held in custody on an unrelated warrant after he allegedly killed his teen son and injured his two other children in a shooting in Port Huron.
The shooting happened at about 6 a.m. on Thursday, Sept. 11, at an apartment complex on Glenview Court near the intersection of Kraft Road and 24th Avenue.
A 17-year-old boy, a 13-year-old boy and a 12-year-old girl were taken to a hospital with gunshot wounds.
The 17-year-old boy died from his injuries at the hospital.
The two other children were in critical condition on Thursday, but in an update on Friday morning, police said their conditions have improved, and they are stable.
Police also said that the children’s father, identified as a 44-year-old man, remains in custody at the St. Clair County Jail on an unrelated warrant.
The man is awaiting his arraignment, which will likely happen on Tuesday, Sept. 16, according to police.
On Thursday, Local 4 learned that the man was charged with indecent exposure earlier this year. The man pleaded guilty in that case and was scheduled to be sentenced Thursday morning, before the shooting happened.
Neighbors also told Local 4 that the man was a maintenance worker at the complex.
They described the morning of the shooting, recalling how they woke up to the sound of the kids’ mother calling for help.
“At around 6 a.m. this morning, a woman came running to our apartment door asking for help, very frantic. She was bleeding all over the sidewalk,” Gabriel Baker, a resident of the apartment complex, said on Thursday.
Several neighbors began making calls to 911, and Jennifer Goddard and her husband rushed to help.
“I shot up and ran out the front door, and as I was running out the front door, I met the boy at the end of my sidewalk,” Goddard said. “He was just covered in blood.”
Goddard said she tried to comfort the injured 12-year-old while police arrived and arrested the man.
Police said that before officers responded to the scene, the kids’ mother and their 20-year-old sibling fought the man during the shooting to prevent further harm.
Goddard also told Local 4 that she was not only neighbors with the man, but had known him since high school, and was in disbelief when she learned what had happened.
“It was just sad,” Goddard said. “Devastating that it’s the kids.”
Port Huron schools sent a letter to parents confirming that the 17-year-old who was killed, as well as the 12- and 13-year-olds who were injured, were all students in the district.
Counseling teams were at the schools on Thursday for students in need of support.
“This incident is a tremendous tragedy, and words cannot fully convey the sadness we feel for the victims, their families, and their friends,” Port Huron police said in a release on Friday. “We extend our heartfelt gratitude to the first responders who, without hesitation and at significant personal risk, entered the residence, apprehended the suspect, and immediately provided lifesaving medical care until EMS arrived.”
The investigation is ongoing.
Anyone with information can contact the Port Huron Police Department at 810-984-8415 or the Port Huron Police Department’s Major Crimes Unit at 810-984-5383.
A GoFundMe has been set up to help the family with funeral and medical costs. You can donate here.