A quiet neighborhood in White Lake Township turned into a crime scene early Tuesday morning, July 8th, after a homeowner reportedly opened fire on a group of teenagers he says were breaking into his garage.
According to police, the homeowner confronted a group of seven teens after they allegedly triggered motion-activated security cameras on his property just after midnight.
The confrontation escalated, and seven shots were fired, hitting two of the teens, reports FOX 2 Detroit News.
One of the teenagers died while being transported to the hospital. The other was injured and is recovering.
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The rest of the group scattered, but police say they have taken an 18-year-old and one juvenile into custody and are still searching for others involved.
“People thought it was fireworks,” said Brandi, a neighbor. “No dogs went off, nobody woke up, nobody knew nothing.”
Brandi said her surveillance system captured audio of the incident but declined to share the video. She added that the same garage had been targeted for break-ins three times in the past year.
“I hope you all get caught,” Brandy said of the suspects. “And I hope that the injury hurts for a while.”
Police say they don’t yet know why the teens were on the property or if they were targeting it specifically. The investigation is ongoing.
“The randomness of it… it’s just an unfortunate incident,” said a White Lake Township police spokesperson. “We don’t want this kind of thing to happen. We’re going to work to bring it to a close and we just ask that people stay safe.”
The homeowner is cooperating with investigators. It will ultimately be up to the Oakland County Prosecutor’s Office to determine if the shooting was justified under Michigan’s self-defense laws.
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Randomness: Targeted for break ins 3 times in the past!
This story warms me proud to be a free American.
This story warms my heart
“People thought it was fireworks,” said Brandi, a neighbor. “No dogs went off, nobody woke up, nobody knew nothing.” Dogs now ‘go off’? and not bark?
“The randomness of it… it’s just an unfortunate incident,” said a White Lake Township police spokesperson. “We don’t want this kind of thing to happen. We’re going to work to bring it to a close and we just ask that people stay safe.” Two ‘teens’ down, five more to go.
‘The randomness’ description, and the size of the group of ‘teens’ breaking and entering, does not sound like the race of the perps is that of the name of the nearby lake.
Sad two knuckleheads lost their lives, no doubt there will be a community balloon release in their honor. But as the ‘ol say goes, “fuck-around-and-find-out”. This is a hard lesson to learn for a bunch of hood-rats, but society is damn sick and tired of being victims to these little assholes.
When seven criminals are trying to break into your property at the same time, the shooting is justified. Should we wait until after they hit us in the head with a pipe or stab us with the knife?
Here’s an idea… Parents, teach your children how to act like humans instead of monkeys. And in all honesty… Everyone knows the law and I can guarantee you every one of those seven teenagers knew what they were doing was illegal. So the way I look at it… 14% of that group learned their lesson the hard way, hopefully the other 86% will think harder the next time.
well the street sign read dead end so they should have taken notice!