INKSTER, Mich. – An Inkster neighborhood is left rattled following a double shooting over the weekend that claimed the lives of a 17-year-old and a 15-year-old boy.
Inkster police responded around 4:50 a.m. April 12 to the 26000 block of Penn Street for a report of a male gunshot victim at a home. The 17-year-old boy was taken to a nearby hospital, where he was pronounced dead, according to an Inkster Police Department news release.
Lottie Landrum and Grady Carr were startled by a knock on the door of their Penn Street home just before 5 a.m.
“Grady says someone’s trying to get in the house. So I ran into the living room, the boy was banging, banging, pleading for us to open the door,” Landrum said.
The couple called 911 and said they were told not to go outside in case a gunman was nearby. Landrum said the couple watched helplessly as first responders tried to save the boy’s life on their front porch.
“He was on the ground, and I saw him, and his eyes had the color of my son’s eyes. I saw my son. I saw my son on the ground dying,” Landrum said. “Nobody, a mother, nobody should see that.”
While canvassing the area with assistance from Michigan State Police troopers and detectives, officers followed a blood trail to a backyard on the same block and recovered a firearm, police said.
A second gunshot victim, a 15-year-old boy, was found in the backyard of Carr and Landrum’s home and pronounced dead at the scene.
Police said the circumstances surrounding the incident remain under investigation, adding that detectives are gathering evidence, reviewing surveillance footage, and interviewing witnesses.
Police said there was no immediate threat to the public.
Inkster Mayor Byron Nolen called the deaths “sad” for the community and said the city is working to expand youth programming and mentorship.
“It’s just sad for the whole community to have two teenagers deceased from gunshots,” Nolen said. “We don’t have a lot of answers at this point, but we’re kind of piecing it together, and hopefully we’ll at least get some answers for the family.”
Nolen said Inkster has increased programming for young people in recent years through the We Rise Inkster after-school program and the return of the city’s summer camp program, saying tragedies like this highlight the need for gun-violence prevention.
“Do we get the kids earlier, get them into summer camps, after-school programs, keep them busy, and mentor them to make sure they don’t get into situations like this? That’s how I look at it, and then of course parents have to do their part,” he said.
Landrum urged community members to get involved.
“We need mentors for our sons and daughters. Especially our sons. Come out and help us,” Landrum said. “This don’t need to happen anymore.”
Anyone with information is asked to contact Inkster police Detective T. Parker at 313-563-9869 or Michigan State Police Detective Sgt. Cobb at 313-236-7903.