WEST BLOOMFIELD, Mich. (WXYZ) — A 76-year-old West Bloomfield man is facing several charges after allegedly shooting two people during a violent rampage at an apartment and business over the weekend.
Fawzi Kased was arraigned on two counts of assault with intent to murder and six other charges Tuesday in 48th District Court. He was given a $3 million bond with no 10%.
Watch Ruta Ulcinaite's video report below:
According to police, Kased went on the rampage on Saturday around 9 a.m. at the Thornberry Apartment Complex and the Mapleview Liquor Store. Police said it started when officers were dispatched to the apartments on a report that Kased was trying to force his way into an apartment.
“Fawzi came to their house and rang the doorbell," West Bloomfield Police Detective Rebecca Schuldinger said at the Tuesday arraignment. “Ten to 15 minutes later, Fawzi came back and began shooting through the front door and had fired approximately three to four shots."
About seven minutes after police say Kased first arrived at the home, they received a report of a shooting at Mapleview Liquor Store, about 1/2 mile from the apartment complex. Two minutes after that, there was a report from the apartment complex that someone was firing into one of the apartments and someone had been hit.
During the course of the investigation, police determined that Kased was a former employee at the liquor store, having been fired in 2021. Police said surveillance video shows Kased sitting in a nearby parking lot until the worker came to the store, then walking inside, going behind the counter and shooting the employee.
He was taken to the hospital by a family member and was originally on life support, and is not in serious, but stable condition.
Police said that Kased fired three or four times inside that apartment complex, hitting a woman in the abdomen. She was taken to the hospital and later released. The woman is the wife of a current employee at the liquor store.
Officers saw Kased driving through the apartment complex and approached the vehicle. He exited the car with a rifle in his hand, but dropped it after officers ordered him to drop it.
He was taken into custody, but then taken to the hospital for a possible seizure, and he's still currently hospitalized, police said. He was in a hospital bed during the arraignment.
Jordyn Denham, who lives at the Thornberry Apartments, said the scene was chaotic Saturday morning with more than 10 police cars, ambulances and a helicopter overhead.
"I feel a little disturbed cause it happened next to my aunt's house, right across my window. Couldn't go to work, had to tell my job what happened," Denham said.
Denham has lived in the West Bloomfield neighborhood for four years and said Saturday's violence was unprecedented for the area.
Judge Diane D'Agostini also acknowledged the defendant was convicted in a 1996 felony assault with a dangerous weapons case when handing down her bond sentence. She also mentioned how the shootings happened in broad daylight.
“This occurred in the morning hours allegedly while the public was going about their business," D'Agostini said at the arraignment. “It demands a very high bond.”
If the defendant bonds out, he faces a host of conditions, including being on a tether and not contacting the victims. He is back in court for a probable cause conference March 5.
