18-Year-Old Killed In Quadruple Shooting; Police Searching For Men With 'High-Powered Weapon'
DETROIT (WWJ) - Detroit police say an 18-year-old was killed and three others were seriously injured when a car full of men stopped in front of an east side home and fired multiple shots from a "high-powered weapon."
The shooting took place around 11 p.m. Wednesday at a home in the 16600 block of Edmore, in a neighborhood near 8 Mile and Kelly roads just west of I-94.
According to police, an 18-year-old woman was standing on the porch talking with three men -- ages 18, 19 and 20 -- when a red Saturn vehicle with four men inside came driving down the street and stopped in front of the house.
Police say one of the men got out of the vehicle's front passenger door and opened fire with a "high-powered weapon," striking the four victims in their bodies. The man got back into the car and the vehicle fled the scene. Witnesses said the rapid shots sounded like they came from a machine gun.
The homeowner, who did not want to be named, said the victims were just "kids being kids," hanging around outside when the shooting happened.
"The shots rang out like 'Pop, pop, pop, pop, pop, pop, pop!' and all I could do was just jump up and try to run downstairs to see where she was at, to see what was going on. When I got down here, I saw the young man laying on my front walkway," she told WWJ's Mike Campbell.
The 18-year-old woman, identified by relatives as Aundrea Garland, was fatally shot. The other three men were rushed to the hospital. The 18-year-old is in critical condition; the other two are in temporary-serious condition.
Garland's mother, Margaret, has a strong message for her daughter's killers.
"It's like a dream and I just want to wake up," she said, tears streaming down her cheeks. "I just want them to know that whoever pulled that trigger last night, I want you to know that you took my baby away from me and I hope you go to hell for what you did to my child. You will reap what you sow, you best believe that, you better believe that. And I hope you don't never have another good night's sleep because you took my baby. My baby didn't deserve that. You didn't even know my child."
Margaret Garland said her daughter was spending the night at her friend's home, with plans Thursday to pick up their class schedules and go shopping for new clothes for the coming school year.
"She just turned 18 on July 3. She was a good girl, she was sweet. Everybody loved her. She didn't deserve this," she said.
Police were not immediately able to provide detailed descriptions of the suspects, other than to say that all are black males.
Sgt. Michael Woody said investigators aren't yet sure of a motive, but they're not ruling out the possibility that the incident might be connected to a shooting Wednesday at Eastland Mall, located nearby. In that case, a man and woman were wounded as they left the mall around 3:30 p.m. near the vacant Sears store. Investigators recovered 25 to 30 casings from a large-caliber gun, possibly an assault rifle, and said three or four suspects might be involved.
"Because of the proximity, it's something that we're not ruling out at this time," Woody said. "Obviously, when situations like this happen just within blocks of each other or within a short distance, it's something that we do weigh heavily into our consideration. Although we can't connect anything right now, it is something that we are considering."
Woody said dealing with case after case of senseless violence in Detroit, especially against young people, cuts the entire police force to the core.
"I don't care what you see or who you talk to, you can never prepare your mind or yourself for something like this," he said.
Anyone with information is urged to contact police at 313-596-2260 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-SPEAK-UP.
