Families had filled up Brooklands Plaza Splash Pad in Rochester Hills on Father’s Day weekend when a man with a handgun open fired on the crowd, Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard said at a news conference Saturday just hours after the shooting.
At around 5 p.m. Saturday, a man pulled up in a vehicle to the splash pad and fired at least 28 shots, injuring nine people, Bouchard said.
Some of the victims were from the same families, Bouchard said, including 4- and 8-year-old brothers and their mom, 39, as well as a wife and husband.
The 4-year-old boy suffered a wound to the thigh, but is stable, while his 8-year-old brother was wounded in the head and his mom was wounded in the abdomen, Bouchard said. Both are in critical condition.
The victims are 4, 8, 30, 31, 37 39, 39, 40 and 78. Their names have not yet been released. The investigation is ongoing.
After 911 was called, it only took two minutes before the first emergency responder arrived.But the sounds of cars whipping away from the splash pad and one woman yelling from her car sent one neighbor into action immediately.
Jarrett Schmidt, 43, told news reporters he was at his mother’s house down the street when he sprang into action, grabbing his medical kit he owns because he concealed carries.
“Some of these people I know personally,” Schmidt said. “I’ve lived here all my life. … I put compression bandages and tourniquets on people, that’s what I was here to do.”
The shooter, a 42-year-old white male, died by suicide after leaving the scene to go to a house, Bouchard said. Police had been trying to communicate with the man with little success.
A 9mm handgun and three empty magazines were from the splash pad. But what was found in the house showed that the shooter may have had other plans, Bouchard said, showing a photo of an AR Platform rifle laying on the kitchen table.
“In my worst nightmare, I couldn’t imagine standing up here again talking about another active shooter,” Bouchard said.
This was the second mass shooting in Oakland County on Saturday, with six people shot at a house party at 12:20 a.m. in Lathrup Village. Police said all of the victims are expected to survive. Earlier in the day as Bouchard was sharing preliminary details about the shooting, he talked about the scars the Oxford High School shooting has left on the county. In November 2021, a 15-year-old student killed four other students and injured several others in the school.
“It’s a gut punch, obviously, for us here in Oakland County; we’ve gone through so many tragedies. We’re not even fully comprehending what happened at Oxford and now we have another complete tragedy that we’re dealing with,” Bouchard said.
Although police are looking for a manifesto or a motive for the shooter’s actions, the victims appear random, with no relationship to the shooter. Bouchard said the location even seems random, as the shooter was not a resident of Rochester Hills.
“It may be very much like Michigan State University where the person had no connection to Michigan State, but just decided to go there and find victims,” Bouchard said.
MSU’s shooting happened on the eve of Valentine’s Day, killing three students on Feb. 13, 2023. Saturday’s shooting in Rochester Hills took place just before Father’s Day on Sunday.
“None of us in this room in this community or in this country, anticipated going into Father’s Day weekend with this kind of tragedy that families will be deeply affected by forever,” Bouchard said.
Brooklands Plaza Splash Pad is across the street from an ice cream shop and a short walk down the street from Reuther Middle School. The splash pad is a popular spot for kids who then hobble across the street with their families after a hot summer’s day for ice cream, the Advance was told in talking with locals on the scene.
It’s a close-knit community. The Brooklands neighborhood is the oldest one in Rochester Hills, Rochester Hills Mayor Bryan K. Barnett said. And the city is committed to supporting the families impacted by the shooting with its full focus.
“When I got on scene I started to cry because I know what a splash pad is supposed to be. It’s supposed to be a place where people gather, where families make memories, where people have fun and enjoy a Saturday afternoon and it wasn’t today,” Barnett said.
Throughout the 18 years Barnett has been mayor, he’s sent messages to other community leaders offering support when tragedy knocks on their door, but Saturday stands as a reminder that these kinds of things can happen anywhere, he said.
“What normally happens in our city didn’t happen,” Barnett said.
U.S. Rep. John James (R-Shelby Twp.) stood with Bouchard at the press conference urging individuals to seek out mental health help if they need it and implored the public to understand government needs to work on all levels to ensure communities stay safe.
“Under no circumstances is it normal for ice cream cones and flip flops to be strewn amongst blood and bullet casings,” James said.
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