Man Ambushed By Masked Suspects At Detroit Gas Station; Police Recover 47 Casings From 3 Weapons
DETROIT (WWJ) - Police are searching for a group of suspects who ambushed a man at a southwest Detroit gas station, firing nearly 50 shots into his vehicle.
The incident unfolded just after 1 a.m. Wednesday at the BP gas station on Fort Street and Schaefer, off I-75 just south of the Rouge River Bridge.
A man was trying to pump gas into his SUV when he was surrounded by several suspects with masks covering their faces. All at once, the suspects opened fire and "lit up" the SUV.
As bullets were flying, the man ran into the gas station where Omar Ahmed, the overnight clerk, let him into a back room protected by bullet-proof glass.
"He's a daily customer, a very nice guy, you know, so I open the door and bring him in the back," Ahmed told WWJ's Mike Campbell. "For like a second, there's shooting and then it stopped and we thought everything was good. We picked him up and put him on a chair and then, all you see is the dude just -- it was weird -- the guy just pops out of nowhere in front of the window and then just stares right at us, and all we can hear is gunshots again."
The shooting continued momentarily before the suspects fled the scene.
"It just kept on going, like you'd think it was over and then five minutes later they'd just start shooting again," said Ahmed. "Well, it felt like five minutes but it was probably only like 20 seconds, and they'd start shooting again."
Investigators recovered at least 47 bullet casings from three separate weapons -- an AK47, AR15 and a handgun.
Police say miraculously, the man was not seriously injured, although reports indicate he was struck in the leg. He was taken to a nearby hospital for treatment and is expected to recover. He was identified only as a man in his 20s.
Investigators have not yet indicated if the man was targeted, or if the shooting was random.
No arrests have been made and physical descriptions of the suspects were not immediately released.
An investigation is ongoing.
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