DETROIT — A person of interest is in custody in connection with a shooting at an east side Detroit barber shop that left three dead and seven others injured, police announced Thursday.
Detroit Police Chief James Craig said a man was taken into custody in Rochester, Mich., after the shooting Wednesday night and is being held on an unrelated felonious assault charge. He said the man, at the time he was arrested, was wearing body armor.
Craig said police are working with the U.S. Attorney’s office to determine whether the man could be in violation of federal laws for being in possession of body armor.
The shooting happened at Al’s Place Barber Shop and might have been the result of an ongoing feud between the shooter and people at the gambling party, Craig said.
He called the shooting “urban terrorism.”
Craig said that police received a 911 call at 5:47 p.m. Wednesday indicating shots had been fired. He said police were on scene by 5:49 p.m.
The initial investigation, Craig said, revealed that 20 to 30 people were packed into a small room at the rear of the barbershop and were gambling.
He said a man pulled up in a vehicle and started firing at a truck with a high-powered rifle. At some point, the rear door of the shop opened and the shooter began firing inside of the business. Craig said nine people were shot inside of the location.
He said at least one person inside of the barbershop returned fire.
Investigators were searching for men driving two Chevrolet Impalas — one white, one black — involved in the shootout along Seven Mile Road between Mound and Ryan at about 6 p.m. Investigators said a shootout between the cars’ occupants in an alley behind the building spilled over into the barbershop. People fled for cover at neighboring businesses.
Police said the barbershop is known for gambling, and a dice game was taking place when the gunfire broke out. But a motive behind the shooting wasn’t clear.
Two people died Wednesday night and a third victim, a 37-year-old man, died early Thursday at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit, Detroit police spokesman Sgt. Michael Woody said.
