When a gunman opened fire on the Brooklands Plaza Splash Pad in Rochester Hills on Saturday, a Michigan couple was wounded seven times while defending their daughters.
A gunman, later identified by police as Michael William Nash, 42, of Shelby Township, drew up in his car and started shooting at the families encircling Micayla and Eric Coughlin, along with their two girls, ages two and seven months, at the Brooklands Plaza Splash Pad in less than a minute.
The Coughlin family was eating ice cream when they heard gunshots, according to a note left on their GoFundMe page by family friend Noel Wakul.
Wakul continued by stating that when the Coughlins and their girls were fleeing the attacker, they were shot seven times. The night terrors landed them both in the hospital.
Wakul stated, “Because of their heroic actions, their children were protected and able to go home that evening,”but Micayla and Eric “face a long and unknown recovery from this unthinkable tragedy.”
Michael Bouchard, the Oakland County Sheriff, called the shooting “very random” and “bizzare” during a press conference. He also mentioned that Nash had no known relationship to the victims.
After two minutes, he added, police came to reports of gunshots. He claimed that by the time they got there, the gunman had already fled and was holed up in a house in Shelby Township. Three magazines and a 9mm Glock firearm were found at the scene.
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At the Shelby Township residence, Nash was subsequently discovered dead from what appeared to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Police discovered a semi-automatic gun next to Nash’s body, which Bouchard said suggested Nash may have been planning a “second chapter.”
Three mass shootings, all in the Detroit metro area on Saturday, included the incident in Michigan.
Shortly after midnight on Saturday morning, six individuals were shot during a home party in Lathrup Village. Two of them were seriously ill. Late on Saturday night, four more people were shot in Detroit, resulting in the death of a lady. Teens and young adults were the victims of both shootings.
During a press conference on Sunday, Oakland County Executive Dave Coulter remarked, “We’re getting all too good at this.”
Bryan Barnett, the mayor of Rochester Hills, continued, “I can only describe the last 24 hours as a nightmare.”
