Mother, child wounded in splash pad shooting remain in critical condition

A woman and and an 8-year-old child remain in critical condition following Saturday’s mass shooting at a Rochester Hills splash pad.

At least three of the nine shooting victims have been released from the hospital. The other four hospitalized victims, including the child’s 4-year-old brother, remain stable.

The suspect — 42-year-old Shelby Township resident Michael Nash — died by suicide after police came to his house, which he shared with his mother.

Addressing the media at the Sheriff’s Office on Monday, Oakland County Sheriff Mike Bouchard said there’s evidence Nash was suffering from delusions.

“We don’t have a lot of information about this individual yet, but it appears he had been musing about different things, saying, ‘shut your phone off. We’re being watched. They are listening to us walking around the house with weapons,’” he said.

Deputies recovered 11 firearms from the home and one from the scene of the attack. The 9mm Glock semi-automatic handgun used in the splash pad shooting was purchased legally by the suspect in 2015, Bouchard said.

The Michigan Legislature passed a red flag law last year which allows family members to ask a judge to remove guns from someone who is deemed a threat to themselves or others.

Police in Oakland County are still trying to figure out a motive for the mass shooting. Bouchard says investigators are looking through the suspect’s phone and computers in hopes of finding out why he committed the crime.

“So far, we’ve not been able to uncover any written, pen to paper manifesto, types of things,” he said.

It may be increasingly difficult to get more information from the suspect’s family – his mother has hired a lawyer and isn’t speaking with detectives.

Rochester Hills Mayor Bryan Barnett told The Metro on Monday the city’s primary focus in the aftermath of the shooting is supporting community members. Oakland County and Oakland Community Health Network are offering counseling services and other mental health resources all week for those affected by the shooting, with no appointment necessary.

The incident was one of at least four mass shootings in the U.S. on Saturday and early Sunday, the Associated Press reported. Six people were shot in a residential neighborhood in Lathrup Village; seven were shot at a party in Methuen, Massachusetts; and eight people were shot during a Juneteenth celebration in Round Rock, Texas. Two people were killed in that shooting.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.