OAK PARK, Mich. – It began as a birthday celebration and pajama party for a group of teenagers, but ended in tragedy for two families Monday morning when gunfire erupted at a short-term rental home in Oak Park.
Two teens were shot and killed, and two others were injured, according to police.
Family and friends said 19-year-old Dashaun Green and 18-year-old Teris King were shot and killed inside the home on Coolidge Highway, just south of Nine Mile, after “dozens of shots” were fired from outside shortly before 5 a.m.
Oak Park police said they were dispatched to the home at approximately 4:48 a.m. after receiving multiple reports of gunfire. One neighbor told Local 4 it sounded like a semi-automatic weapon, reportedly hearing “40 to 50 shots.”
Devastated family members struggled to comprehend the loss of Green, who was just two weeks away from going back to college, and King, who had just graduated high school. Family members were holding hands, crying, and hugging at the scene.
“Put them guns down,” Dashaun Green’s father, Davains Green, said. “You guys took my world — not just me, the other girl’s mother — the other girl that got shot. You guys took a lot.”
According to Green and family friends, the home had been rented for a birthday party and pajama party.
One of the teens in attendance told Local 4 that about 15 young people were there — many of them teenagers. Family and friends said a group of people who were not invited arrived at the gathering and were “politely asked to leave.”
“They said they left,” Green said, after speaking with a teen who found his son’s body. “About 4-something in the morning, he said he heard gunshots.”
By that time, a 16-year-old, who escaped the home wearing only his socks, told Local 4 that most of the partygoers were asleep when the shooting began. Friends of Green and King said the two victims “didn’t have a chance.”
“My son didn’t even know the guys who were asked to leave,” Green said. “He was in the back where he was found dead.”
Investigators said the shooting scene stretched well beyond the home itself, with evidence markers extending along Coolidge Highway as Oak Park Police and the Oakland County Crime Scene Analysis Unit processed the area.
Oak Park Police and Fire Chief Steve Cooper said investigators are working around the clock to determine exactly what happened and identify those responsible. No arrests had been made as of Monday evening.
“With all the promise that the young adults… had, it’s just a terrible tragedy,” Cooper said. “We’re committed to doing everything we can to find out who is responsible for this.”
“If you got any remorse or heart, just like you picked them guns up and came here, be a man. You know what to do,” Green said, addressing those who pulled the trigger.
“He was a very handsome young man, very well-mannered, very respectful,” another family member said of Dashaun Green. “He was going to be somebody. He was finding his way in life. He was robbed, and none of this is fair. I hope he gets the justice he deserves. Two young lives taken for no reason is heartbreaking. Our family is heartbroken by this senseless act.”
“This senseless act of violence and disregard for human life will not be tolerated in our community,” said City Manager Erik Tungate. “We are dedicating every available resource to this investigation and are committed to bringing those responsible to justice.“
Oak Park police said the investigation remains active.
Anyone with information is asked to contact Oak Park Public Safety at 248-691-7520 or call 911 in an emergency.