Shooting At Motown Fireworks Show

A gunman opened fire into a crowd that had gathered downtown for the city's annual fireworks display, injuring nine people and forcing hundreds of revelers to scatter.

Police Chief Ella Bully-Cummings said early Thursday the shooting apparently followed an argument and that innocent people were caught in the crossfire.

Police questioned several people but had made no arrests in the Wednesday night shooting at the Hart Plaza area, city spokesman James Tate said. He would not say whether police knew the shooter's identity or target.

"There were a lot of different accounts of what happened," Tate said.

Bully-Cummings said investigators recovered a handgun and had a good description of the suspect.

Nine people, ranging in age from 18 to late 40s, were shot, police said.

One victim, a 22-year-old man, was in critical condition with a bullet wound to his heart, police said.

Eight people were treated at Detroit Receiving Hospital. Of them, two were listed in critical condition, three as stable and one as temporarily stable, and two were treated and released, said hospital spokeswoman Karen Wood.

At the site of the shooting, yellow police tape was used to cordon off the scene. Inside the area, a bike, backpacks, coolers and blankets were scattered about.

Hundreds of thousands of people packed into downtown and along the Detroit River that runs between Detroit and Windsor, Ontario, to watch the display, a summertime tradition that celebrates the bonds between the cities.

One witness won't return. Andrea Bobo, 23, of Detroit, said she was about 30 feet from where the shooting took place and had seen several fights in the area before the fireworks display.

"I don't think I will ever come back again," Bobo said.

During the 1991 fireworks display, a white woman was assaulted and five black women pleaded no contest to charges, further straining race relations in the city.

By Mike Ramsey