Man Kills 7-Year-Old Girl, Self Outside Of Soccer Practice At Taylor Sportsplex; Mother In Serious Condition
TAYLOR (WWJ) -- Police say a man shot and killed a 7-year-old girl and wounded her mother outside of a Downriver sports complex before turning the gun on himself and taking his own life.
The incident unfolded just before 8 p.m. Thursday at the Taylor Sportsplex on Telegraph Road between North Line and Eureka roads in Taylor.
Taylor Police Chief Mary Sclabassi said her department received a 911 call about shots fired and arrived on the scene to find three people suffering from gunshot wounds in the parking lot.
The shooter, 37-year-old Timothy Obershaw, was declared dead at the scene. 37-year-old Sharon Elizabeth Watson was taken to Beaumont Hospital in Dearborn, while her 7-year-old daughter Emma Watson Nowling was airlifted to Mott Children's Hospital in Ann Arbor and later died.
Sharon Watson remains hospitalized in serious condition. She and Emma were at the complex for soccer practice. No one else was injured.
Obershaw was a family friend and was believed to be mentally unstable, according to police.
"We found evidence that Obershaw believed that someone was trying to control him through mind control," Sclabassi said.
Police say that Obershaw watched the soccer practice before shooting the mother and child near their car.
Sclabassi said that Watson had allowed Obershaw to stay at an apartment on her property and that Obershaw "had a fondness" for the girl.
