Detroit police release video of drive-by shooting outside Westin Book Cadillac
DETROIT (CBS DETROIT) – Police are searching for the person who wounded four people in a drive-by shooting late Thursday night outside a downtown hotel.
On Friday, Detroit police released surveillance footage of the shooting that shows an SUV pulling up to the Westin Book Cadillac minutes before 11:30 p.m. on Dec. 8.
Moments later, another SUV drives by, unloading a barrage of bullets. One of the victims got out to fire back at the suspect.
Detroit Police Chief James White said the shooting wasn't random.
"They met up at a previous location, had some type of conflict moved from that location at separate times to the secondary location where the incident occurred," White said at a news conference.
Officers in the area heard the shots and rushed over, providing first aid and taking three out of the four victims to the hospital.
"Likely saving at least one of the victims' lives by providing that tourniquet and getting them to the hospital. I want to make sure that I thank those officers for their hard work," White said.
It's the latest high-profile shooting in the area. Just three weeks ago, two teenagers were shot near Campus Martius following the tree lighting ceremony,
"This is not usual, and it's pretty nice and quiet," said Mozetta Jordan, who works in the area.
Detroit's Deputy Mayor Todd Bettison issued the following statement:
"Gun violence due to the easy access to weapons is a problem in many areas of our city and our country, and downtown areas are not immune. A shooting incident downtown should be treated no differently than a shooting in any other neighborhood of the city. Thanks to the leadership of Chief White, Detroit has seen a continued reduction in fatal and non-fatal shootings, while most other major American cities have seen increases. Still, one shooting is too many and the administration fully supports the Detroit Police Department and its strategies to reduce gun violence in all areas of our city."
"This is a sad situation and unfortunate situation and a situation where people are using guns to solve simple disputes. Everybody's got a gun," White said.
With the shooting happening in a highly surveilled section of the city, police are confident this case will get solved.
"And so if there's any place that they want to do it, they're helping the police in making a decision to do it there because we're going to pull every asset that we have together. And we're going to be deploying, making sure that we get this violent felon off the street before they hurt anyone," White said.
If you have any information regarding this shooting, call 313-596-1340 or 800-Speak-Up.
