The non-profit gun violence prevention group Brady United estimates about 4.6 million children live in homes with unlocked and loaded firearms.
And guns are now the leading cause of death among children.
Michigan recently took steps to help stop injuries from firearms by enacting a law requiring owners to keep guns safely stored and secured.
But the president of Brady United, Kris Brown, says gun owners must use extra caution during the holidays when large numbers of family members often gather together.
Listen: Gun violence prevention group says securely storing firearms is key to a safe holiday season
The following interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Kris Brown, Brady United: If you look at all of the different causes of gun violence in this country, unintentional shootings in a home kill or injure eight kids a day. About 76% of school shooters get their gun from a home where it’s not safely stored. And two-thirds of gun deaths are from suicide. The hugest risk factor for suicide in the home is the presence of a loaded and unsecured firearm.
Taken together, those statistics show us that preventing “family fire,” the unintentional injury or death of a loved one with an unsecured fire in a home, has to be a top priority if we’re really going to lessen the rate of gun violence in this country in a material way. It starts in everyone’s home and it starts with safe storage.
Quinn Klinefelter, WDET News: In Michigan, there was a tragic school shooting a few years ago at Oxford High School. It was one of the many that have happened across the country, sadly. A law was passed around the time of the Oxford shooting mandating safe storage of firearms. And in that case they also held the parents liable for the gun crimes committed by their son because they said that it wasn’t stored safely. From what your group has seen, are those kinds of laws widespread across the country? And do they seem to have any effect on limiting unintended shootings?
KB: They’re not widespread yet. There are a number of states that, after the Oxford shooting and others like it that have, unfortunately, occurred in states like Georgia, has created more of a groundswell to seek support for those kinds of laws. Child access prevention laws and similar laws of that ilk.
Brady United has mixed feelings about it. We believe the critical thing is to prevent these kinds of shootings from happening in the first place. Throwing parents in jail after the fact because they’ve been grossly negligent, that’s what the law we do believe should require. But it doesn’t bring back the innocent victims. It doesn’t stop the harm from happening in the first place.
That’s why we think child access prevention laws that ensure if you choose to have a firearm in the home it is safely stored are important compliments to public safety laws. They should be adopted across the country.
QK: In your view, does it seem that “threatening” parents, for lack of a better word, actually makes an impact? Or is it something where they just need to have this top of mind to begin with? There’s been shootings where people had a gun stuck in a shoe box that they seemed to think was fine because it stored away. And still a kid was able to get to it.
KB: I think there needs to be a complement of effort, sort of in the same way that getting a ticket when you’re speeding is a way to remind you that you shouldn’t have a lead foot. It compliments education in driver’s ed about why speeding is potentially very dangerous. The same sort of approach should apply here. This isn’t a unique area of human experience, though it’s a uniquely deadly area of human experience.
We at Brady have done a lot on our website so that families can find absolutely crystal clear guidance on safe storage options. And even how to talk to family members when you’re at the dining table over the holidays about the kinds of things that they can be doing, if they choose to have firearms in the home, to protect those who live there and those who visit the home.
We at Brady believe that it’s on each of us to have these conversations and to normalize something that’s as old as our nation, older than the Second Amendment, which is safe storage of firearms. Back in the colonial times it was mandated and enforced in terms of muskets. Why should it be different today, when eight kids a day are killed or injured by guns that those parents and most gun owners brought in with the idea that they should protect their families? And unless they’re safely stored, it’s tragic that that is exactly the opposite of what’s happening.
QK: I’ve heard some firearm owners and people that say they’re fighting for the Second Amendment who mention some of the recent mass shootings, the tragedy in Australia, for example. They’ll say that country had some of the toughest gun laws around and still that tragedy occurred. They argue restrictions on firearms really don’t make any huge difference, whether it’s children in the home or people out and about. What is your reaction to those kinds of comments?
KB: There was a mass shooting in Australia at Port Arthur. Immediately following that, I think it was a matter of days or weeks, not months, Australia banned various assault style weapons. And they greatly strengthened the regulation of the sale and ownership of firearms in their country. There was a significant reduction in mass shootings.
If you look at U.S. history, we have a distinguishing feature. Here guns are the number one killer of our kids. We experience 26 times the gun violence of every other industrialized country. The five states with the strongest gun laws in this country have a 70% or more reduced experience of gun death and injury compared to the states with the five weakest laws.
Will they prevent every gun death and injury? No, just like speeding limits didn’t stop every automobile fatality. But they reduced them a lot. This is in our hands. This is in the hands of gun owners across this country. That means guns locked, unloaded, and stored separately from ammunition. Doesn’t need a vote at the ballot box. It doesn’t need a better enforcement agency. It needs an individual taking an action that will ensure that a firearm is not used unintentionally to harm someone in their home.
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FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — A parent of a Kentucky State University student has been charged with murder in an on campus shooting that killed one student and critically injured another.
Jacob Lee Bard was at the school’s campus in Frankfort on Tuesday and fired shots at the victims at a residence hall, police said in a statement.
Investigators said the shooting was isolated, but they have not publicly shared details of the circumstances or a possible motive. The shooting killed 19-year-old De’Jon Fox of Indianapolis. A second student who was shot remains in critical condition, but his name has not been released, police said.
Bard, 48, was booked into jail on murder and first-degree assault charges. Police said Bard is from Evansville, Indiana, which is about 150 miles west of Frankfort.
Bard is being represented by a public defender at the Franklin County Department of Public Advocacy, which declined to talk about his case Wednesday.
University police officers were near the scene of the altercation that ended with the shooting and immediately arrested Bard, police said.
Investigators have watched video taken by others at the scene and surveillance footage.
Asked by reporters about alleged videos showing a fight involving Bard’s sons preceded the shooting or whether Bard might have come to campus to talk to administrators about his sons’ safety, Frankfort Assistant Police Chief Scott Tracy refused to say what may have led to the shooting.
“It’s really too early in the investigation right now to really give any details that led up to it. A lot of it would be speculation,” Tracy said Wednesday.
The shooting happened at Whitney M. Young Jr. Hall. It was the second shooting in four months near the student residence.
Someone fired multiple shots from a vehicle on Aug. 17, striking two people that the university said weren’t students. Frankfort police said one victim was treated for minor injuries and a second sustained serious injuries. The dorm and at least one vehicle were damaged by gunfire.
University President Koffi C. Akakpo said the school brought in more police officers after the first shooting and will evaluate whether more needs to be done to keep students safe once the investigation into the latest shooting is complete,
“The campus is a safe place,” Akakpo said at the news conference.
Kentucky State is a public historically Black university with about 2,200 students. Lawmakers authorized the school’s creation in 1886.
The school sits about 2 miles east of the Capitol building in Frankfort.
Law enforcement responds to a shooting at Whitney Moore Young Jr. Hall on Kentucky State University’s campus in Frankfort, Ky., Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2025. (Hannah Brown/The State Journal via AP)
NEW YORK (AP) — Moments after Luigi Mangione was put in handcuffs at a Pennsylvania McDonald’s, a police officer searching his backpack found a loaded gun magazine wrapped in a pair of underwear.
The discovery, recounted in court Monday as Mangione fights to exclude evidence from his New York murder case, convinced police in Altoona, Pennsylvania, that he was the man wanted for killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in Manhattan five days earlier.
“It’s him, dude. It’s him, 100%,” an officer was heard saying on body-worn camera video from Mangione’s Dec. 9, 2024 arrest, punctuating the remark with expletives as the officer combing the bag, Christy Wasser, held up the magazine.
Wasser, a 19-year Altoona police veteran, testified on the fourth day of a pretrial hearing as Mangione seeks to bar prosecutors from using the magazine and other evidence against him, including a 9 mm handgun and a notebook that were found during a subsequent search of the bag.
Mangione, 27, has pleaded not guilty to state and federal murder charges. He appeared in good health on Monday, intently watching the video and occasionally jotting notes. The hearing, which began Dec. 1 and was postponed Friday because of his apparent illness, applies only to the state case. His lawyers are making a similar push to exclude the evidence from his federal case, where prosecutors are seeking the death penalty.
Prosecutors have said the handgun found in the backpack matches the firearm used in the killing and that writings in the notebook showed Mangione’s disdain for health insurers and ideas about killing a CEO at an investor conference.
Mangione’s lawyers contend the items should be excluded because police didn’t have a search warrant for the backpack. Prosecutors contend the search was legal and that officers eventually obtained a warrant.
Wasser, testifying in full uniform, said she was following Altoona police protocols that require promptly searching a suspect’s property at the time of an arrest, in part to check for potentially dangerous items. She was heard on body-worn camera footage played in court that she wanted to check the bag for bombs before removing it from the McDonald’s.
Wasser told another officer she didn’t want to repeat an incident in which another Altoona officer had inadvertently brought a bomb to the police station.
Thompson, 50, was killed as he walked to a Manhattan hotel for his company’s investor conference on Dec. 4, 2024. Surveillance video showed a masked gunman shooting him from behind. Police say “delay,” “deny” and “depose” were written on the ammunition, mimicking a phrase used to describe how insurers avoid paying claims.
Mangione was arrested in Altoona, about 230 miles (about 370 kilometers) west of Manhattan, after police there received a 911 call about a McDonald’s customer who appeared to resemble the suspect.
Wasser said that prior to responding to the McDonald’s she had seen some coverage of Thompson’s killing on Fox News, including the surveillance video of the shooting and images of the suspected shooter.
Wasser began searching his bag as officers took him into custody on initial charges of forgery and false identification, after he acknowledged giving them a bogus driving license, police said. The same fake name was used by the alleged gunman used at a Manhattan hostel days before the shooting.
By then, a handcuffed Mangione had been informed of his right to remain silent — and invoked it — when asked if there was anything in the bag that officers should be concerned about.
According to body-worn camera video, the first few items Wasser found were innocuous: a hoagie, a loaf of bread and a smaller bag containing a passport, cellphone and computer chip.
Then she pulled out the underwear, unwrapping the gray pair to reveal the magazine.
Satisfied there was no bomb, she suspended her search and placed some of the items back in the bag. She resumed her search at the police station, almost immediately finding the gun and silencer. Later, while cataloging everything in the bag in what’s known as an inventory search, she found the notebook.
A Blair County, Pennsylvania, prosecutor testified that a judge later signed off on a search warrant for the bag, a few hours after the searches were completed. The warrant, she said, provided a legal mechanism for Altoona police to turn the evidence over to New York City detectives investigating Thompson’s killing.
As he has through the case, Assistant District Attorney Joel Seidemann described Thompson’s killing as an “execution” and referred to his notebook as a “manifesto” — terms that Mangione’s lawyers said were prejudicial and inappropriate.
Judge Gregory Carro said the wording had “no bearing” on him, but warned Seidemann that he’s “certainly not going to do that at trial” when jurors are present.
Luigi Mangione appears in Manhattan Criminal Court, Monday, Dec. 8, 2025, in New York. (Sarah Yenesel/Pool Photo via AP)
New York City reached a record-tying 12 days with no murders — a streak only ended when a 38-year-old man was shot in the stairwell of a Bronx NYCHA building, police said Monday.
Gregory Stewart was shot in the head about 9:05 p.m. Sunday inside a Sotomayor Houses building on Watson Ave. near Rosedale Ave. in Soundview, cops said. Medics rushed the victim to Jacobi Medical Center but he could not be saved.
Stewart’s murder ended a stretch of 12 days, beginning Nov. 25, that saw no new recorded homicides citywide. The only other time the city is known to have gone that long with no murders was in 2015, which also saw a 12-day stretch with no homicides, according to NYPD stats.
“Right strategy. Great execution. That’s how you set record after record,” NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch said in a statement Monday. “Thank you to the members of the NYPD who have sacrificed so much this year to drive down violent crime to record lows.”
A man was taken into custody in Sunday’ slaying but has not yet been charged. The victim lived in the Wakefield section of the Bronx, according to cops.
The last known murder in the city before Sunday’s homicide was the stabbing death of 80-year-old Lev Vayner inside his apartment on Overlook Terrace near W. 184th St. in Washington Heights on Nov. 24.
The suspect, 45-year-old Alon Riabichev, whom Vayner was kindly letting crash with him, called 911 around 3:15 a.m. and confessed to having killed Vayner, according to prosecutors. Riabichev is charged with murder.
38yr old Gregory Stewart was pronounced dead at Jacobi Hospital after he was shot in the head inside of 1744 Watson Avenue in the Bronx on Sunday December 7, 2025. 2107. Police took a Person of Interest into custody. Photos taken on Monday December 8, 2025. 0903. (Theodore Parisienne / New York Daily News)
A suspect has been arrested upstate for the Midtown Manhattan shooting that wounded Jets player Kris Boyd last month, law enforcement sources said Monday.
The 20-year-old suspect was not immediately charged but sources say he is expected to face charges of attempted murder after he is transported to Manhattan from Amherst, a Buffalo suburb where a U.S. Marshals task force nabbed him.
The suspect lives in the Bronx and has four prior arrests, including one last year for reckless endangerment and a 2018 robbery arrest as a juvenile delinquent that was sealed, law enforcement sources said.
The gunman early on Nov. 16 was part of a group of men who mocked the stylish clothes Boyd and his friends were wearing when they arrived at Sei Less, a W. 38th St. Asian fusion hot spot popular with the well-heeled.
Boyd and his friends, including fellow Jets players Irvin Charles and Jamien Sherwood, ignored the taunts, police said, but left the club after a short while and were mocked again by the same group, sparking an argument that got physical.
Boyd was shot in the chest, the bullet travelling into his lung, as the fight escalated.
NYPD
Police released suveillance images of a man who they believe fired shots that wounded Jets cornerback Kris Boyd in Midtown. (NYPD)
The shooter and his accomplics ran off, police said, with the shooter later identified after cops released surveillance footage of him in the hopes someone would recognize him.
The suspect’s name has not been publicly released as detectives worked to establish probable cause to charge him.
Boyd was rushed to Bellevue Hospital and later released but was returned to the hospital over Thanksgiving after facing setback in his recovery, he posted on social media,
Jets Cornerback Kris Boyd is in critical condition after he was shot in the abdomen on West 38th Street between Broadway and 7th Avenue in Manhattan on Sunday Nov. 16, 2025. (Theodore Parisienne/New York Daily News; Getty)
Editor’s note: This story has been updated after the governor of West Virginia updated his earlier report that they had died.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Two West Virginia National Guard members who deployed to the nation’s capital were shot Wednesday just blocks from the White House in a brazen act of violence.
The West Virginia governor initially said the troops had died, but later walked back the statement to say his office was “receiving conflicting reports” about their condition. The governor’s office did not immediately respond to questions about the attack and the condition of the troops.
A suspect who was in custody also was shot and had wounds that were not believed to be life-threatening, according to a law enforcement official who was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.
“We are in ongoing contact with federal officials as the investigation continues,” Gov. Patrick Morrisey said.
Law enforcement was reviewing surveillance video from the scene and believed the suspect approached the soldiers and pulled out a gun, said another law enforcement official who was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly and spoke to AP on condition of anonymity.
At least one of the soldiers exchanged gunfire with the shooter, the official said. Investigators were trying to determine the gunman’s motive, including whether the suspect was targeting the troops for any specific reason, the official said.
The shooting happened roughly two blocks northwest of the White House.
Social media video shared in the immediate aftermath showed first responders attempting CPR on one of the soldiers and treating the other on a glass-covered sidewalk. Other officers could be seen steps away restraining an individual on the ground.
Stacy Walters said she was in a car near the scene car when she heard two gunshots and saw people running. Almost instantly, law enforcement swarmed the area. “It’s such a beautiful day. Who would do this, and we’re getting ready for the holidays?”
Emergency medical responders transported all three people to a hospital, according to Vito Maggiolo, the public information officer for the DC Fire and Emergency Services.
The presence of the National Guard in the nation’s capital has been a flashpoint issue for months, fueling a court fight and a broader public policy debate about the Trump administration’s use of the military to combat what officials cast as an out-of-control crime problem.
More than 300 West Virginia National Guard members were deployed to Washington in August. Last week, about 160 of them volunteered to extend their deployment until the end of the year while the others returned to West Virginia just over a week ago.
Police tape cordoned off the scene where fire and police vehicle lights flashed and helicopter blades thudded overhead. Agents from the Secret Service and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives were on scene, as National Guard troops stood sentry nearby. At least one helicopter landed on the National Mall.
President Donald Trump, who was in Florida for Thanksgiving, warned in a statement on social media that the “animal” who shot the guardsmen “will pay a very steep price.”
“God bless our Great National Guard, and all of our Military and Law Enforcement. These are truly Great People,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “I, as President of the United States, and everyone associated with the Office of the Presidency, am with you!”
In Fort Campbell, Kentucky, Vice President JD Vance urged “everybody who’s a person of faith” to pray for the two Guardsmen. He cautioned that much remained unknown, including the motive of the shooter.
“I think it’s a somber reminder that soldiers, whether they’re active duty, reserve or National Guard, our soldiers are the sword and the shield of the United States of America,” Vance said as he delivered a Thanksgiving message to troops.
A spokesperson for Mayor Muriel Bowser said local leaders were actively monitoring the situation. Bowser had spent the morning at a Thanksgiving event at the Convention Center and then held a news conference to explain why she was not seeking reelection.
Trump issued an emergency order in August that federalized the local police force and sent in National Guard troops from eight states and the District of Columbia. The order expired a month later, but the troops remained.
The soldiers have patrolled neighborhoods, train stations and other locations, participated in highway checkpoints and also have been assigned to trash pickup and to guard sports events.
Last week, a federal judge ordered an end to the deployment but also put her order on hold for 21 days to allow the Trump administration time to either remove the troops or appeal the decision.
—–
Governor Patrick Morrisey had previously reported their deaths in a social media post.
U.S. Marshalls and National Guard troops are seen after reports of two National Guard soldiers shot near the White House in Washington, Wednesday, Nov. 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
The Detroit Department of Transportation will be adding 53 new buses to its fleet thanks to a $50 million federal grant. That’s in addition to the 76 busses DDOT purchased in the last two years.
Mayor Mike Duggan says the new purchase will replace more than 40% of Detroit’s bus fleet. Many of the new buses will operate out of the $160 million rebuilt Coolidge Terminal on Detroit’s west side.
Additional headlines from Tuesday, November 25, 2025
Gun Violence Prevention Task Force
Michigan’s Gun Violence Prevention Task Force is making its final recommendations, including giving out free gun locks and banning certain types of weapons.
Members say the changes would help the state enforce its existing gun safety laws more effectively. Other recommendations include creating a statewide school safety tip line and standardized training for school resource officers.
Pro-gun lawmakers have resisted supporting some of the goals, such as raising the firearms purchase age and banning high-capacity magazines.
Billups pleads not guilty in sports gambling scheme
Former Detroit Pistons star Chauncey Billups is pleading not guilty to charges that he conspired with the Mafia to help rig poker games.
The federal government accuses Billups of being part of a criminal ring that used celebrity athletes to draw in poker players, then manipulated the games to make them lose. Prosecutors say the scheme de-frauded victims of roughly $7 million, and claim Billups and other sports stars received a portion of the proceeds.
Billups, a hall of fame player and coach of the Portland Trail Blazers, denies the allegations.
His attorney calls Billups a “man of integrity” who would not risk his reputation or freedom for anything—let alone a card game. He is currently free on a $5 million bond.
Both the money laundering conspiracy and wire fraud conspiracy charges against Billups carry a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison.
Merry Midtown
Noel Night has been canceled this year, but midtown businesses are working together to make sure the first Saturday in December remains festive – and lucrative – for the area.
Businesses are working together to host Merry Midtown on Dec. 6. Stores, restaurants and organizations will have performances, crafts, special deals and other offerings in the afternoon and evening.
Merry Midtown – a festive evening in the spirit of Noel Night starts at 5 p.m. throughout the Midtown area.
A Noel Afternoon
The Detroit Public Library has its own alternate programming to replace its annual Noel Night festivities.
A Noel Afternoon will offer crafting, performances from the Nutcracker ballet, Dickens-themed carolers, the Detroit Youth Choir, Dutch Girl donuts, Good cookies, hot cider, a visit by Mr. and Mrs. Claus and more.
A Noel Afternoon is Saturday, December 6 from 10:30 a.m. til 6 p.m. at the Main Library at 5201 Woodward Avenue.
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CARBONDALE, Kan. (AP) — Four law enforcement officers were shot Saturday morning while responding to a domestic violence call at a home in a rural area south of Topeka, and a 22-year-old male suspect died of gunshot wounds at the scene.
The suspect’s 77-year-old grandfather also was wounded in the gunfire but he and the law enforcement officers are all expected to recover, the Kansas Bureau of Investigation said.
The shooting occurred around 10:30 a.m. Three Osage County sheriff’s deputies and one Kansas Highway Patrol trooper were shot, the KBI’s director and the patrol’s superintendent said.
Two deputies underwent surgery at a Topeka hospital and were in good condition, the KBI said, and the third deputy was discharged. The trooper was transferred from the same hospital to the University of Kansas Medical Center in Kansas City, Kansas.
“After being on scene less than 10 minutes, gunfire erupted,” patrol Superintendent Erik Smith said during a news conference at the Carbondale City Library.
Carbondale is a town of about 1,300 people about 16 miles south of Topeka, the state capital, off Highway 75.
The shooting stunned neighbors John and Heather Roberts, who live about a mile north of where it occurred on the same two-lane road. They never sensed any problem in any of the family members, such as drugs, alcohol abuse or violence, and they said the suspect’s grandmother gave Christian books to area children she knew.
They said it is not uncommon to see law enforcement vehicles on the road outside their home because they live at the line between Osage County, home to Carbondale, and Shawnee County, home to Topeka, and vehicles turn around there or the counties exchange prisoners.
John Roberts said he was putting siding on his barn when two law enforcement vehicles flew down the road in the morning.
“Both of them were running, I would say, well over 100 miles an hour as they went by,” he said. “Then the city of Topeka officers started going by. That’s when I started to really get concerned.”
He said the suspect visited the shop he has at his home to return tools and was “a good kid.” Roberts added that many families in the area own guns because hunting is a common hobby, and that was the case with this family.
“I love the family. They’re great people,” Heather Roberts said, adding that she and her husband were praying for the wounded officers too.
She said every time the suspect visited their home, he would give her a hug and he was “very respectful.”
“I don’t know what snapped in him today, but his grandparents loved him very much,” she said.
___
Dura reported from Bismarck, North Dakota.
Kansas Bureau of Investigation Director Tony Mattivi speaks at a news conference about a domestic violence incident that resulted multiple casualties, Saturday, Nov. 15, 2025, at the Carbondale City Library in Carbondale, Kan. (AP Photo/John Hanna)
Three teenagers and a four-year-old were killed in a string of deadly shootings in Detroit during the summer. In response, Mayor Duggan and Police Chief Todd Bettison announced plans to ramp up enforcement of the city’s curfew policy and more than double the penalty fees.
The city fines parents of teenagers who stay out past curfew hours without adult supervision. Officials say fines will encourage parents to step up and help reduce the violence, but experts argue this approach doesn’t work and that it could cause more hardship for families.
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A Pontiac teen recently acquitted of homicide is headed to prison for related convictions of armed robbery and using a firearm to commit the crime.
Sentenced Oct. 13 by Oakland County Circuit Judge Daniel O’Brien, Christian Harris, 19, will spend 13-50 years behind bars for the 2023 armed robbery of Armani Terrell Baker, 22, of Waterford.
Harris got an additional two years behind bars for felony firearm in connection with the armed robbery.
Christian Harris booking photo
Harris was 17 years old at the time of the incident and charged as an adult. His first trial ended in a mistrial last year after the jury deliberated for three days and failed to reach a unanimous verdict. The retrial concluded this past Sept. 8.
The Oakland Press has reached out to the Oakland County Prosecutor’s Office and the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office with questions about any further legal activity or investigation regarding Baker’s homicide but hasn’t heard back yet.
The other man charged for related offenses, Jeremiah Rodriguez — age 18 at the time of the incident — made a deal with prosecutors and pleaded guilty in September to an added count of accessory after the fact. Charges of conspiracy to commit armed robbery and possession of a firearm in the commission of a felony were dismissed. Last month, O’Brien sentenced Rodriguez to 14 days in jail with credit for 14 days served, and three years probation.
At the end of August, at least three women in Southeast Michigan were killed by a partner or family member. Those cases prompted questions about protection orders—processes through which victims of domestic abuse can protect themselves.
Do they make a difference, and what more can be done to prevent instances of abuse?
Chéree Thomas is the Co-Executive Director of the Michigan Coalition to End Domestic and Sexual Violence. She believes the responsibility to protect victims should not be placed exclusively on the justice system, it should also be placed on the shoulders of the broader community.
She joined the show to discuss how to collectively address and reduce domestic violence.
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Trial is scheduled in Oakland County Circuit Court for a former Wayne County official and her husband accused of pulling guns on a customer following a physical fight at a Farmington Hills gas station.
Jury selection is scheduled to begin Feb. 23, 2026 for the cases against Alicia Bradford and her husband, Larry Bradford of Farmington Hills. Both face charges of assault with a dangerous weapon/felonious assault and using a firearm during the commission of a felony in connection with a New Year’s Day 2025 incident.
Alicia Bradford (Wayne County)
According to police reports and security video obtained under Michigan’s Freedom of Information Act, the charges stem from an incident that happened just before 1 a.m. on Jan. 1 at a gas station on Orchard Lake Road.
A fight broke out between Larry Bradford and another customer who got involved after Bradford began arguing with the gas station clerk, accusing him of charging tax on a bottle of Mountain Dew, police said. Larry Bradford left the store and returned with a 9mm handgun and pointed it at the customer, demanding he get on his knees and apologize, and struck him. Alicia Bradford then entered the store armed with a firearm and pointed it at the customer, according to police.
In this still frame from surveillance video, Wayne County parks director Alicia Bradford points a handgun at an unidentified customer (far right, face digitally obstructed) after the man and Bradford's husband, Larry Bradford, got into a verbal and physical confrontation on Jan.1 over the price of a bottle of pop. (Farmington Hills Police Dept. via FOIA)
At the time of her arrest, Alicia Bradford was Wayne County’s parks and recreation director. She was suspended without pay after the Oakland County Prosecutor’s Office filed charges against her, and then resigned from her job in February.
Alicia Bradford and Larry Bradford are out of custody on $50,000 personal bonds, which require no cash or surety to be posted.
Assault with a dangerous weapon/felonious assault carries a penalty of up to four years in prison. Using a firearm in the commission of a felony is punishable by up to two years in prison.
Over the past month, Southeast Michigan has been shaken by a string of killings. A mother and her 12-year-old son, a woman fleeing an abusive relationship, and a young woman, only 20 years old, were killed with days of each other by a partner or loved one.
These tragic events force us to address hard questions: Where can people living with abuse turn for help? And are the systems that are meant to protect them actually working?
Nushrat Rahman has covering been these instances for the Detroit Free Press. She joined the show to tell us more.
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The Oakland County Sheriff’s Office failed to establish a timely incident command and was late to dispatch fire crews in response to the Oxford High School shooting, according to an independent investigative report released Monday.
The office did not establish a formal incident command at Oxford High School until 25 minutes after a teenage gunman who went on a murderous rampage was in custody, according to an after-action review of the emergency response to the 2021 school shooting.
The 275-page report found no evidence of neglect or dereliction of duty by individual responders, but noted that failing to quickly establish an initial command and promptly integrate with other public safety agencies can lead to severe consequences.
“Successful incident command operations in the first five minutes of a critical event often determine response success. These operations include not only ‘sizing up’ a scene, but also a brief description of initial actions, and instructions for additional responding personnel,” investigators wrote in the report’s executive summary.
Nearly 560 emergency personnel responded to the scene from more than two dozen agencies. But poor communication and inadequate training hamstrung some EMS, police and fire workers, investigators found.
Survivor accounts from the attack revealed a chaotic scene in which nearly 1,600 students and dozens of staff were fleeing the sprawling school building while emergency responders tended to the wounded and dead and police searched for the student gunman.
Although multiple ranking OSCO officers were present, the report says there was a 25-minute gap before a lieutenant assumed the role of incident commander.
“During this 25-minute period, although critical objectives were met and the shooter was apprehended, there was some confusion about where resources should be directed and coordination with public safety officials such as fire/EMS was disjointed,” the report says. “Once command was established, law enforcement agencies were aligned with the roles needed to complete the building clears, secure the interior of the building, and create a perimeter around the outside of the building.”
Release of the Guidepost Solutions report follows a Detroit News investigation that revealed complaints from fire department officials that their crews were dispatched late to the attack. The News also reported that the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office declined to participate in a third-party review of its department’s response as recently as January 2024, a claim that Sheriff Michael Bouchard has denied.
Oakland County government officials approved $500,000 to hire a review firm three weeks after The News’ report. Guidepost was tasked with conducting a comprehensive report evaluating the multi-agency response to the shooting and the recovery effort that followed.
The shooter, Ethan Crumbley, a sophomore at the school at the time, fired his weapon 33 times in the attack and killed Hana St. Juliana, 14; Madisyn Baldwin, 17; Tate Myre, 16; and Justin Shilling, 17.
The report determined that, despite the misteps in response, the victims’ injuries were “inherently fatal” and that a quicker emergency response could not have saved their lives. The conclusion was based on information from a medical examiner’s report and analysis by an independent medical expert.
“Our review determined that the nature and extent of Madisyn, Tate, and Justin’s single gunshot wounds to the head were inherently fatal,” the report says. “Hana sustained multiple gunshot wounds, with resulting abdomen and chest injuries, which were collectively inherently fatal. Even with immediate medical intervention, the experts’ consensus is that the outcomes would not have changed.”
Despite the shooter being apprehended just two minutes after the sheriff’s department arrived on scene, and OCSO ranking personnel arriving on scene within the first seven to nine minutes after the shooting began, incident command was not formally established until Lt. Todd Hill arrived at 1:20 p.m. and initiated command at 1:25 p.m., the report found.
“This constitutes a time gap of approximately 27 minutes after the SRO (school resource officer) and OCSO Deputy 1 arrived on scene, approximately 25 minutes after the shooter was in custody, and approximately 24 minutes after OCSO dispatch confirmed the suspect’s arrest,” the report says. “Lieutenant Hill ultimately established incident command inside the lobby of OHS by a bench across from the administration offices.”
Guidepost found breakdowns in communication regarding the locations of officers and victims early in the response. The first two officers to enter the schools, “while understandably focused on the apprehension of the shooter,” did not provide updates on their movements, victim locations or their conditions via radio, the report says.
“Best practices suggest that, as the first responders on the scene, they are the ‘de facto’ command and should not only announce their entry point but also provide information about what they saw as they came upon the victims in the hallway. Also, due to a lack of effective communication, some efforts were duplicated. Injuries were reported multiple times and OHS surveillance depicted numerous deputies clearing the same hallways.”
A lack of training, for both law enforcement and firefighters, was identified in the report as a challenge.
At the time of the shooting, sheriff’s deputies and supervisors were not sufficiently trained in incident command and unified incident command, Guidepost found. Since that time, the sheriff’s office has instituted programs on those concepts, the report says.
“During this review numerous fire department members indicated that, when on scene at OHS, they did not feel that they were adequately prepared to deal with the chaos and pressures of an active assailant situation,” the report says.
“Departmental training was limited to mass casualty scenarios within EMS continuing education programs. There was insufficient or even non-existent training on the use of ballistic protective gear at the fire department, which was frequently stored away and never utilized by personnel,” the report says. “For many OFD members, the day of the shooting was the first time they donned ballistic vests and helmets.”
Guidepost recommended that fire department chiefs mandate bi-annual active assailant training with the sheriff’s department.
Oakland County Executive David Coulter said he was briefed Monday morning by Guidepost officials and had not yet read the entire report.
“I appreciate the report. It is comprehensive. I think it’s fair,” Coulter said. “We engaged with Guidepost because we’re committed to taking an honest look at how we respond to these kinds of emergency, tragic events, and to see where there could be lessons that we can learn from them, and it certainly appears that there are areas that could be strengthened.”
Coulter said there was a very successful and courageous response by first responders and a lot of things done right.
“And I continue to be proud of the people who responded on that horrible day,” he said.
Dispatch delay found
In its report, Guidepost identified a delay in dispatching the Oxford Fire Department in response to early 9-1-1 calls that came in at 12:52:32 with a definitive report of injury.
At 2:19 minutes into the call, at 12:54:51, the caller confirmed a victim was shot, the report says. At 12:52:59, information regarding shots fired was dispatched to all OCSO units. Oxford Fire Department was not dispatched until 12:59:56, Guidepost says.
“Best practices suggest dispatch should be within 15-30 seconds of receipt of a call, and within no more than 60 seconds. The call data reviewed indicates that the call takers recognized this incident as a confirmed active shooter event well before the decision to dispatch the fire department,” the report says.
“OCSO follows the practice of waiting to dispatch fire departments until confirmation of an injured party is established. Although OCSO asserts that this is based upon directions from fire departments, we suggest that in low occurrence-high threat events such as active shooter incidents, especially those at schools, it is logical that all necessary resources be dispatched even before confirmation of injuries.”
The Guidepost report critiqued the response and offered recommendations to improve emergency preparedness and response to incidents, including a recommendation to Oakland County to ensure that a formal after-actio review is conducted for all multi-agency critical events in the county.
In interviews with The Detroit News in 2024, Oxford Fire Chief Matthew Majestic and Addison Fire Chief Jerry Morawski said they self-dispatched their crews when the high school came under attack.
While both chiefs said the dispatch delay did not impact their treatment of victims as fire and EMS crews staged outside the school until police worked to secure the scene, Majestic told The News then that the delay cost his department valuable time to develop a plan ahead of treating victims, four of whom died. It’s an aspect of the tragedy he has struggled with for years.
“Had they toned us out, we could have been staging and ready and organized,” Majestic told The News in 2024. “I know we would have reviewed the maps, probably made changes to who is responding and where. … We would have had more people on the scene. … We could have made a better-educated triage. … You took away that opportunity of building a plan.”
The role of school resource officers
Guidepost, a New York-based investigations, regulatory compliance, monitoring and security consulting firm, found there was no protocol during the shooting for detailing responsibilities of the school resource officer in relation to non-police school security. School resource officers (SROs) are armed, certified police officers.
The issue stands out because the SRO at Oxford High School was not required to remain on campus and was not present at the time the shooting began, having left earlier for an investigation at Oxford Middle School and a stop at the substation. On the same day, the school security officer was absent on pre-approved leave.
“Consequently, a part-time armed hall monitor was the sole armed individual at OHS. Going forward, expectations must be clearly delineated regarding SROs and school security,” the report says. “There should be protocols in place between the district/school and OCSO about alternative security measures when school security is unavailable.”
Investigators did identify “certain breakdowns in command, coordination, communication, and training, which demonstrate the need for improved rapid response protocols, rescue task force (RTF) training, and enhanced tactical medical readiness.”
Fire and emergency response
In the area of fire and emergency services responses, the report says both command and communications were “hindered” during the incident when fire command at the scene moved all fire communications to a different radio channel.
“This was intended to facilitate information-sharing among all responders. However, fire personnel within OHS were unaware that the radio channel was changed and repeatedly called command on the wrong channel, receiving no response,” the report says. “Dispatch did not intervene to redirect units to the correct channel or have command switch channels.”
Guidepost recommended that dispatch be alert for misrouted communications and proactively redirect personnel to the correct channel, and that fire departments review and revise policies and practices of switching radio channels during critical incidents. The report added: “When a switch occurs, it should be announced by dispatch with a ‘tone out’ to alert all on the channel.”
The report also found that in the absence of clear dispatch protocols, fire and EMS personnel were not informed when the shooter was in custody, delaying their entry into OHS by approximately four and a half minutes.
“The computer-aided dispatch (CAD) system did not utilize specific call types for active assailant incidents, and there was no county-wide operating procedure to guide a coordinated response. We recommend that pre-determined CAD call categories be implemented for active assailant events, not only to streamline dispatch practices but also to ensure that fire and EMS are made aware of developments as they occur,” the report says.
Records from the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office show Oxford EMS staging outside the high school at 1:00:53 p.m. and transporting the first victim out of the high school at 1:06:32 p.m., 15 minutes after the shooting began.
Guidepost investigators recommended fire departments reconsider their staging practices to provide “greater clarity and coordination” and move to a unified county-wide policy. At the time of the shooting, the policy of fire and EMS departments from both Oakland and Oxford was to “stage” their response by waiting nearby until the scene is declared safe, the report says.
“This creates confusion for both personnel within the department as well as law enforcement, who remain unsure when firefighters and EMS members will enter a scene to render aid,” the report says. “We recommend that Oxford Fire Department (OFD) as well as other departments across Oakland County reconsider staging practices. This requires agencies to evaluate best practice recommendations to forgo staging during active assailant events and clarify whether dispatch instructions to stage are mandatory or advisory.”
Outdated dispatch system
Guidepost described the sheriff’s department’s Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD) system as outdated, saying it heavily relies upon manual entry by dispatchers for the transfer of information. It recommends CAD systems be updated to transition from manual to automated entry and that CAD should flag high-risk keywords such as “shot,” “injured,” “weapon,” “gun,” and “active shooter” to trigger response protocols.
The day of the attack, 911 calls were rerouted from Oxford County to Lapeer County. A total of 248 emergency calls would flood sheriff’s dispatch in the first 60 minutes after the attack.
“For example, one call from OHS administration, which proved to be the most valuable for tracing the direction of the suspect, was rerouted to Lapeer. Active shooter incidents can often tax phone systems, as they were not designed for the volume that often occurs after a tragedy. We recommend that public safety organizations establish county-wide policies for handling misrouted 9-1-1 calls and build relationships with local phone service providers to understand how large-scale incidents affect call coverage and routing,” the report said.
Reunification practices
The emergency operations plan for Oxford Community Schools had identified Meijer, a half mile from the school, as the reunification location. Hundreds of students fled there. The report says many Oxford High Schooll families reported a positive experience with the reunification process, the approach fell short in providing sufficient communication and emotional support to the families of the victims.
“The families of Madisyn, Tate, and Hana came to the reunification center with the expectation of reuniting with their children. However, after two hours and no more students arriving from the school, the parents were ushered into a store breakroom where they were informed that their children were killed,” the report says.
Guidepost investigators wrote that in discussions with Madisyn’s mother, Nicole Beausoleil, Buck Myre, and Steven St. Juliana, the families did not approve of the manner or means by which the information was relayed.
“While they understood that there was no perfect way to convey this information, Nicole Beausoleil felt that the words were emotionally disconnected and significantly contributed to the continued trauma suffered. All agreed that OCSO’s delayed disclosure of their children’s passing, repetition of additional buses coming, and overall silence gave the impression that officers were not being forthcoming,” the report said.
Guidepost suggested the reunification process could be improved by broader staff training and formalized protocols.
Ambulances travel on Ray Road near Oxford High School on Tuesday afternoon, Nov. 30, 2021. Scores of police, fire, and EMS personnel responded to a shooting that killed four students and wounded seven others, including a teacher, inside the school. (Todd McInturf, The Detroit News)
In the wake of a shooting that killed right-wing firebrand Charlie Kirk on Wednesday at a Utah college campus, political figures in Michigan offered condolences while reflecting on the dangers associated with life in the public eye.
Robert Lulgjuraj, a Republican candidate seeking Michigan’s 10th Congressional District seat in the U.S. House, said he looked at Kirk as an “inspiration,” given that the two were less than a year apart in age (Lulgjuraj is 32 years old; Kirk was 31) and both are outspoken in their Christian beliefs and willingness to engage in discourse with individuals with opposing political views.
He called Wednesday “an evil day in American history” but said the killing wouldn’t affect his approach on the campaign trail.
“I assure you it’s not going to silence this movement or my campaign,” Lulgjuraj said.
The killing also won’t deter state Sen. Mallory McMorrow, D-Royal Oak, in her campaign for a U.S. Senate seat. She called his death “chilling.”
“But we decided on our team that it’s all the more important we bring people together publicly — It’s the only way we get out of this as a country,” she told The Detroit News via text.
The shooting, which happened around noon on the campus of Utah Valley University, brought to mind the February 2023 shooting on the campus of Michigan State University that killed three students, said Josh Cowen, an MSU professor who is running as a Democrat to represent the state’s 7th District in the U.S. House.
“My first thought was, ‘Man, this happened at another campus, another place of learning and debate,” Cowen said. “(Kirk) was famous for going into places and having debates, and he was killed for that. With political violence on the rise in this country, we all need to take a step back and look at what’s going on.”
The deans of Michigan’s congressional delegation, U.S. Reps. Tim Walberg, R-Tipton, and Debbie Dingell, D-Ann Arbor, issued a rare joint statement Thursday to say they were horrified by Kirk’s shooting and “deeply disturbed” by the rise in political violence taking place across the U.S.
“Silencing voices through violence erodes our foundational principles. Instead, we must do more to protect every American’s freedom to have passionate disagreement, rigorous debate, free expression, and an open exchange of ideas without the threat of harm,” the lawmakers said. “All Americans must do their part to stop the escalation of violence.”
News of the shooting broke while the Michigan House was still in session on Wednesday in Lansing. Voting stopped on the House floor for a time of prayer as House sergeants began closing shutters over the chamber windows as an additional security measure.
State Rep. Bradley Slagh, R-Zeeland, led a prayer from the House floor for Kirk and his family.
House Majority Leader Bryan Posthumus, R-Rockford, said the decision was made to end the daily session after the prayer out of respect for Kirk as well as safety concerns. He noted it was the first political assassination to occur while lawmakers were in session.
“We decided that’s what would make sense to do in this scenario,” Posthumus said.
State Sen. Jim Runestad, chairman of the Michigan Republican Party, said he was “devastated” to learn of the fatal shooting.
“For over a decade, Charlie energized the youth of America at college campuses across the country, challenging students to dream big about their future, and inspiring generations of future leaders, legislators, and constitutional conservatives. His wisdom and dedication to upholding our constitutional rights will be dearly missed,” Runestad said in a statement.
Kirk’s killing unfolded less than a half-hour before a separate incident in which a student at Evergreen High School in Colorado opened fire at the school, injuring at least three other students.
End Gun Violence Michigan, a nonprofit that backs gun law reform, said the incidents share a commonality: easy access to firearms.
“It is simply far too easy for those who wish to commit heinous violence to access powerful weapons,” Ryan Bates, executive director of the gun control group, said in a statement. “Our leaders need to take action now to address the national crisis of gun violence before another tragedy strikes.”
The shooting comes amid a spike in political violence across the U.S. In June, a Democratic Minnesota state lawmaker and her husband were shot and killed in what authorities have described as a politically motivated attack. Also that month, a man shouting pro-Palestinian slogans firebombed a Colorado gathering held in support of Israeli hostages in Gaza.
Those incidents followed the July 2024 assassination attempt of President Donald Trump at an outdoor campaign rally in rural Pennsylvania. There was also an arsonist’s attack on the residence of Democratic Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, who is Jewish and had defended Israel’s right to defend itself in the wake of the Oct. 7, 2023, attack by Hamas but who had criticized Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s conduct of the war in Gaza.
“The wave of political violence gripping our nation is un-American, and unpatriotic,” Runestad said. “No American should fear for their life because of their faith or their political views.”
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, a Democrat, herself the target of an alleged 2020 kidnapping plot by political extremists, ordered U.S. and state flags lowered to half-staff in accordance with a Trump order.
“I am thinking of Charlie Kirk, his family, and the community at UVU after the horrific shooting that took place earlier today,” Whitmer said in a statement. “Political violence of any form is unacceptable and must be condemned.”
Other Michigan officials remembered Kirk for his unapologetic brand of activism.
On social media Wednesday, Walberg said, “No one has fought for free speech and challenged ideas on campuses like Charlie.” U.S. Rep. Lisa McClain, R-Bruce Township, posted “Rest in peace, conservative warrior.”
Senate GOP Leader Aric Nesbitt, R-Porter Township, called the killing “an act of terrorism, plain and simple.”
“People tried to shame Charlie,” Nesbitt said in a statement. “They tried to kick him off campuses so he couldn’t speak. And, finally, they tried to silence him permanently. Unfortunately, they did.”
Staff Writers Melissa Nann Burke and Beth LeBlanc contributed.
FILE – Michigan State Sen. Mallory McMorrow speaks at the Democratic National Convention, August 19, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya, File)
Reporting by Steve Karnowski and Mark Vancleave, Associated Press
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A gunman opened fire with a rifle through the windows of a Catholic church and struck a group of children celebrating Mass during the first week of school, killing two and wounding 17 in an act of violence the police chief called “absolutely incomprehensible.”
Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara said the shooter — armed with a rifle, shotgun and pistol — approached the side of the church and shot through the windows toward the children sitting in the pews during Mass at the Annunciation Catholic School.
O’Hara said the shooting suspect is dead and in his early 20s and does not have an extensive known criminal history. Officials are looking into his motive.
“This was a deliberate act of violence against innocent children and other people worshipping. The sheer cruelty and cowardice of firing into a church full of children is absolutely incomprehensible,” said the police chief, who noted that a wooden plank was placed to barricade some of the side doors.
The children who died were 8 and 10, he said.
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz called the violence “horrific” in a social media post.
Children’s Minnesota, a pediatric trauma hospital, said in a statement five children were admitted for care. Hennepin Healthcare, which has Minnesota’s largest emergency department, said it also was caring for patients from the shooting.
Bill Bienemann, who lives a couple of blocks away and has long attended Mass at Annunciation Church, said he heard dozens of shots, perhaps as many as 50, over as long as four minutes.
“I was shocked. I said, ‘There’s no way that could be gunfire,’” he said. “There was so much of it. It was sporadic.”
Bienemann’s daughter, Alexandra, said she attended the school from kindergarten to 8th grade, finishing in 2014. After she heard of the shooting, she said she was shaking and crying, and her boss told her to take the day off.
Law enforcement officers gather outside the Annunciation Church’s school in response to a reported mass shooting, Wednesday, Aug. 27, 2025, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Bruce Kluckhohn)
“It breaks my heart, makes me sick to my stomach, knowing that there are people I know who are either injured or maybe even killed,” Alexandra Bienemann said. “It doesn’t make me feel safe at all in this community that I have been in for so long.”
The school was evacuated, and students’ families later were directed to a “reunification zone” at the school. Outside, amid a heavy uniformed law enforcement presence, were uniformed children in their dark green shirts or dresses. Many were trickling out of the school with adults, giving lingering hugs and wiping away tears.
Local, state, county and federal law enforcement officers and agents converged on the area, a leafy residential and commercial neighborhood about 5 miles (8 kilometers) south of downtown Minneapolis. On Truth Social, President Donald Trump said he was briefed on the “tragic shooting” and that the White House would continue to monitor it.
A person walks out of the Annunciation Church’s school as police response to a reported mass shooting, Wednesday, Aug. 27, 2025, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)
Dating to 1923, the pre-kindergarten through eighth grade school had an all-school Mass scheduled at 8:15 a.m. Wednesday morning, according to its website. Monday was the first day of school. Recent social media posts from the school show children smiling at a back-to-school event, holding up summer art projects, playing together and enjoying ice pops.
At a meeting of Democratic officials elsewhere in Minneapolis, Democratic National Committee Chair Ken Martin noted the shooting and “unknown amount of victims.”
The gunfire was the latest in a series of fatal shootings in the city in less than 24 hours. One person was killed and six others were hurt in a shooting Tuesday afternoon outside a high school in Minneapolis. Hours later, two people died in two other shootings in the city.
Wednesday’s school shooting also followed a spate of hoax calls about purported shootings on at least a dozen U.S. college campuses. The bogus warnings, sometimes featuring gunshot sounds in the background, prompted universities to issue texts to “run, hide, fight” and frightened students around the nation as the school year begins.
Students and parents await news during a mass shooting at the Annunciation Catholic School in Minneapolis on Wednesday, Aug. 27, 2025. (Richard Tsong-Taatarii/Star Tribune via AP)
Associated Press writers Hannah Fingerhut in Des Moines, Iowa; Jennifer Peltz in New York; Jack Dura in Bismarck, North Dakota; and Sarah Brumfield in Cockeysville, Maryland; contributed to this report.
The Detroit Police Department is asking city council to increase its enforcement of the city’s youth curfew. Fines for the parents of kids out past 10 p.m. is $75 and could go up to $200.
This is a response to an increase in violence among young people, including several shootings this month.
The issue of teen violence recently came up at Detroit’s Board of Police Commissioners Community meeting. It’s also started a conversation about how to better support young people in Detroit.
Metro Producer Jack Filbrandt talked to Detroit Documenter Nadia Ziyad and Coordinator Lynelle Herndon about solutions that are being discussed at meetings and in the community.
We also spoke with Detroit Police Chief Todd Bettison last week about the changes to Detroit’s curfew fines. He said the fines are meant to encourage parent accountability and prevent those parents from greater problems down the road.
Use the media player above to hear the full conversation.
Listen to The Metro weekdays from 10 a.m. to noon ET on 101.9 FM and streaming on-demand.
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WDET strives to make our journalism accessible to everyone. As a public media institution, we maintain our journalistic integrity through independent support from readers like you. If you value WDET as your source of news, music and conversation, please make a gift today.
The Michigan Court of Appeals is allowing a case filed by the family of a murdered Oxford High School student to move forward.
The family of Hana St. Juliana alleges the Michigan State Police failed to fulfill a legal obligation to act on information that could have averted the 2021 mass shooting.
The case never made it to the argument stage in the Michigan Court of Claims. The judge ruled the family missed the deadline to notify the state of its plans to file a wrongful death lawsuit within six months of the shooting.
But, in a unanimous opinion released Friday, a three-judge Court of Appeals panel reversed that decision. The court said that clock did not start until a probate judge named St. Juliana’s father as the personal representative of her estate.
“The state of Michigan attempted to use a technicality to deprive our clients of their day in court and we are pleased that the Court of Appeals saw past that and is going to allow this case to proceed,” said Kevin Carlson, the attorney for the St. Juliana family.
The complaint outlines reports of concerning behavior by the shooter that were submitted to the Michigan OK2Say tipline,which serves as a central location to report crimes, threats and concerns regarding schools and students. It says the Michigan State Police failed to live up to its responsibilities to investigate reports submitted through that system. It also says a school official and an Oakland County deputy sheriff dismissed the concerns.
Carlson said the 2013 law that set up OK2Say puts the final legal responsibility to check on those tips with the state.
“The question in this case, and the focal point of this lawsuit, is going to be why did the Michigan State Police not intervene to prevent the shooting at Oxford High School?” he told Michigan Public Radio.
The Michigan State Police did not respond to a message seeking comment. The state could appeal the decision to the Michigan Supreme Court.
St. Juliana and three classmates were killed in the November 30, 2021, mass shooting. Seven others were injured.
Carlson said unless the state appeals, his next step is to seek unredacted versions of police reports related to the shooting.
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Last week, Detroit Police Chief Todd Bettison joined Mayor Mike Duggan and other officials in announcing the launch of a new teen violence prevention plan.
Under the new plan, minors age 15 and under must be with a parent after 10 p.m. The curfew for children ages 16 and 17 is 11 p.m. The plan also calls for increased curfew enforcement, illegal block party enforcement, and higher fines for breaking curfews.
The “crackdown” on curfew violations is in response to recent shooting incidents involving children in the city. But how effective can that be in stopping violent crime, and what else is the city doing to stop violence at the root?
Bettison joined The Metro on Tuesday to discuss the city’s new violence prevention plan and talk about why violence tends to spike during the summer months.
Use the media player above to hear the full conversation.
Listen to The Metro weekdays from 10 a.m. to noon ET on 101.9 FM and streaming on-demand.
Trusted, accurate, up-to-date.
WDET strives to make our journalism accessible to everyone. As a public media institution, we maintain our journalistic integrity through independent support from readers like you. If you value WDET as your source of news, music and conversation, please make a gift today.
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