The Shooter at the Michigan Splash Pad Was a 42-year-old “Loner” Who Was Having “Mental Health Challenges”
Over the weekend, a 42-year-old man opened fire at a Michigan children’s splash pad, hurting nine people. Now, neighbors and police are calling him a “loner” who was “undergoing some mental health challenges.”
Saturday, Michael Nash was found dead from a gunshot wound he gave himself. According to Oakland County Sheriff Mike Bouchard, police were able to trace a gun found at the scene in the Detroit neighborhood of Rochester Hills back to the home he shared with his mother in Shelby Township. He says that police found a semiautomatic firearm on the kitchen table inside that house.
“I believe that because we had quick containment on him, if he had planned to do anything else – and it wouldn’t surprise me because having that on the kitchen table is not an everyday activity – that there was probably something else, a second chapter, potentially,” Bouchard said at a press conference. “We will be looking for any evidence or manifesto or anything that would give us an inclination of what may be driving this individual before this terrible moment.”
It was our idea that he was having some mental health issues, but no one that we know of was told,” Bouchard added, adding that Nash had never been in trouble with the law before.
Nash lived in a mobile home park. His neighbors told the Macomb Daily newspaper that he was a “loner” who always kept the blinds closed on his house.
The Associated Press reports that Nash was named as the suspect by the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office on Sunday.
One neighbor, who called herself Carol, told the newspaper, “My spider senses tingled whenever I was around him.” That something about the way he acted didn’t sit right with me. I didn’t think he was that crazy, but someone who would shoot a child is seriously crazy.
He didn’t tell us what his plans were, said Michelle Wheeler, another neighbor. People in the neighborhood thought he might have wanted to hurt us, but no one was there, so he left. It’s possible that one of us was shot.
Two of the victims have been named on a GoFundMe page as Micayla and Eric Coughlin. They were shot on Saturday afternoon while trying to protect their two girls, ages 2 and 7 months.
“Shortly after grabbing ice cream they walked to the splash pad and were not even there for a minute when Micayla and Eric heard gunfire,” it said. “To save their children, they each grabbed a child to protect them.”
“In total, Micayla and Eric were shot seven times,” the GoFundMe page said. “They are in the hospital getting the care they need.” It was because of their brave acts that their children were safe and could go home that night.
On Saturday, Bouchard told reporters that 28 bullet casings were found at the scene of the killing and that the victims did not know Nash.
The AP says that two of the victims have been named: an 8-year-old boy who is in critical condition and a 4-year-old who is in good condition.