4 shot at Stein Park in Detroit: 2 children, pregnant teen injured
A fight between two women at Stein Park on Wednesday night ended with four people shot, including two young children and a pregnant teenager, Detroit Police Chief James White said.
White said police responded to a ShotSpotter alert around 8:55 p.m. in the west-side area of Westfield Avenue and Faust Avenue where officers discovered the four victims: two teenage women, one of whom is pregnant and in critical condition. The other victims were two children ages 3 and 6 who were "just in the park enjoying a warm spring" and had nothing to do with the fight, he said.
The children are in stable condition.
One of the women involved in the fight "got the best" of the other woman she was fighting with and called a man who had a gun in his backpack, White said. He pulled up to the park, firing four shots at the victims.
Detroit police are searching for the shooter and the woman who they say called him to the park. White said he doesn't know at this time what led to the fight between the women.
"We have to keep our kids safe," White said. "A coward with a gun decided to bring it and hurt children. It's awful."
Dujuan "Zoe" Kennedy, an organizer with community violence intervention group Force Detroit, told the Free Press they responded to the scene and began outreach and de-escalation efforts Wednesday night.
“It’s a tragedy that this escalated to the point where children were shot. At no point is this acceptable to our community,” Kennedy said. “We are doing outreach to mitigate any retaliation or trauma. Community accountability, and guidance is what we aim to demonstrate at all times.”
Andrea Sahouri covers criminal justice for the Detroit Free Press. She can be contacted at 313-264-0442 or asahouri@freepress.com.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: 4 shot at Stein Park in Detroit: 2 children, pregnant teen injured
