DETROIT (WXYZ) — Detroit police say an 11-year-old girl was shot overnight on Detroit's east side.
Officers were dispatched around 4:30 a.m. Tuesday to a home in the 6000 block of Pennsylvania Street near Gratiot and Harper following reports of a shooting.
Detroit police say they have four suspects in custody, aged 18, 19, 20 and 23. They have also recovered a gun believed to have been used in the shooting and another facsimile firearm, according to Detroit Police Department Chief James White.
Watch the Detroit Police Department press conference on Tuesday addressing the shooting:
"The senseless violence is certainly unacceptable. I'm tired of reporting stories like this. We're fed up with theses stories. We pursue those who victimize our community. We relentlessly pursue those who cowardly attack our children," White said.
Assistant Chief Charles Fitzgerald with the Detroit Police Department said, "A car pulled up, a couple of guys jumped out, they ran down and shot into the house," shooting approximately 23 rounds into the home.
"This is ridiculous! If you think these guns make you tough, they don't. They make you cowardly," Fitzgerald said.
The girl was lying on the couch and was shot in the head during the shooting.
"Poor little girl should've been getting ready to go to school soon," Fitzgerald said.
The child was transported to a local hospital in the backseat of a DPD scout car. White described her condition as extremely critical.
"This 11-year-old was doing what we want 11-year-olds to do — being at home, comfortably sleeping in her home when these folks decided to make an adult problem a child's problem. And that's just completely unacceptable," White said.
At the time of the shooting, Fitzgerald says at least 15 people were inside the home.
He also confirmed the same home was involved in another shooting incident in December of 2023.
"At that time, they said the same thing, 'everyone was upstairs, shots were fired into the house.' No one was struck, but there's definitely something going on at this house that we need to look into," he said.
DPD says they are currently looking for two people connected to Tuesday's shooting.
"No stone will be left unturned," Fitzgerald said.
White says the investigation is ongoing and they are searching for another suspect in the case.
White also says they have linked a number of vehicles involved in an ongoing investigation into a car theft ring to this shooting. They have also linked additional vehicles in the car theft ring investigation to an ongoing murder investigation.
