ANN ARBOR, Mich. (WXYZ) — When Telisha Brooks heard that her 16-month-old grandson had been shot, she got on a flight to Michigan to be with him and her 20-year-old son, the baby's father.
At the same time, Ann Arbor Police were looking for her other son, 27-year-old Devonte Brooks, to talk to him about the gun that had gone missing.
Detectives believe Devonte Brooks took the gun from the townhouse on North Maple where the baby was accidentally shot by another child.
The shooting also caused an injury to a boy's mouth. That child also lost a tooth.
It's unclear who the loaded handgun belonged to, but it was left in reach of children.
"It's a lesson learned," the grandmother told 7 Action News Wednesday. "Like I told my children, at the end of the day, I don't even know why you had a firearm in a house full of kids. And you left out and leave a gun laying around? It should have been locked up. If you're going to have a gun, it should be locked up."
The shooting happened Sunday afternoon when the baby's father was outside with other adults, including Devonte Brooks, Telisha's other son who arrived with his wife shortly before the shooting.
After the shot was accidentally fired, one of the children alerted the adults who were outside the residence.
Telisha said her 20-year-old son had no idea his baby had been shot when he got in Devonte's vehicle to rush him to the hospital.
Inside the car with the baby's father was Devonte and Devonte's wife, according to what relatives have told Telisha.
On the way to the hospital, they flagged down police who, along with a firefighter, rushed the baby the rest of the way in a police vehicle.
Police confirmed it was a firefighter who realized that the injury to the baby was a gunshot wound.
On Monday, police said they wanted to talk to Devonte Brooks about the missing firearm.
Telisha said she doesn't know where Devonte is or anything about the missing firearm, but she wants people to understand that he was not involved in the shooting.
"He's not responsible for my grandson's shooting. He didn't shoot my grandson. He didn't have anything to do with it," she said, adding that Devonte only left the hospital because he and his wife couldn't enter because of COVID restrictions.
Telisha believes police released Devonte's name and photo because she's learned that police in Ypsilanti want to talk to him about a shooting in their city.
Wherever her son is, Telisha wants him to know that she loves him, and she's praying that her grandson makes a full recovery.
"I got faith," she said.
And to anyone else who has a gun that may be within reach of a child, she urges them to secure that firearm.
"If you have guns in your house to lock them up," she said. "This is a lesson learned from me and my kids. I hope this is a wake-up call for both of them."
