Police in Detroit, in the north of the United States, launched a major manhunt on Sunday August 28 after four people were targeted ” randomly “ by shootings that led to the death of three of them, authorities said. James White, the Michigan city’s police chief, told media that the first three victims (two women and a man) were shot at different locations in the city in the early hours of the morning.
After seeing the suspect scanning the interior of cars, a fourth man asked him to stop before being targeted in turn by a shot, explained the policeman. Three of the victims died and one survived, police told local media. Photographs of the suspect have been released and authorities have called on anyone who recognizes him to contact police.
The shots appear to have been executed “totally random”, said the police chief during a press conference. A victim “was waiting for the bus, another was walking her dog and another was just in the street”, he described. Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan said at a press conference that officers were “in the process of raking several square kilometers (…)while waiting for the individual to resurface”. “This man has already shot four people today”he warned.
The United States is regularly hit by shootings while parliamentarians are reluctant to pass gun control legislation, although acclaimed by most Americans.