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Detroit Police, Fire & Severe Weather Incidents

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3 Detroit Firefighters Injured in Early Morning Blaze

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DETROIT October 24, 2016: 3 Detroit Firefighters were injured this morning fighting a fire at an abandoned multi family dwelling on Detroit’s north end. Detroit Fire dispatched the 5th Battalion around 8:30am to 526 Harmon on reports of a dwelling fire. Battalion Chief 5 was first on scene and reported the first engine would be stretching.

DFD companies experienced pressure issues while battling the flames in both the basement and on the second floor of the building.

Those issues were quickly mitigated and the fight continued. Fire was reported in the walls of the structure while working their way up to the attic. At 9:15am, Battalion Chief 5 reported 2 firefighters were injured and Detroit Medics 2 & 1 conveyed those 2 firefighters to Detroit Receiving Hospital on St Antoine St. 1 firefighter experienced a back injury while the other had burns to the face. It’s unknown how they received the injuries nor the extent of the injuries suffered. A 3rd Detroit firefighter experienced a back injury later during the firefight and was also conveyed to DRH by Detroit Medic 10.

Battalion Chief 5 then requested 2 additional companies and an additional Detroit Medic unit to the incident scene. Detroit Fire’s Senior Chief 203 also responded to scene although he didn’t assume command. Battalion Chief 5 remained the incident commander.

At 10:35am, Battalion Chief 5 terminated incident command on the box alarm and handed the IC to companies on the scene. Chief 5 then advised central dispatch that he was en route to Detroit Receiving Hospital to check on his injured firefighters.

DFD Ladder 7 reported a disposition of 021 (Suspicious Origin) and advised central dispatch that DPD Arson Car would remain on scene.

I’ll update when updates are available.

Impatient Armed Robber Shoots & Kills Victim

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DETROIT October 22, 2016: An impatient armed robber shot and killed a 26 year old man sitting outside a residence on Detroit’s east side early Saturday morning. Police say that a man armed with a shotgun approached a 26 year old man sitting in his vehicle at 5:30am, demanding his belongings. Taking too long to respond to the perps demands, the suspect fired 1 round striking the victim. The suspect then ran from the scene in an unknown direction.

Witnesses described the gunman as a B/M wearing a high school type letterman’s jacket with leather sleeves. A witness to the incident conveyed the victim to the Detroit Receiving Hospital on St Antoine Street where the victim later died of his wounds. The incident took place in the 20200 block of Wexford on Detroit’s east side.

Bodies of duck hunting father, son found after search

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uscg-sarSt Clair County: A father-and-son duck-hunting duo from Jackson County was found dead in Canadian waters near Metro Detroit on Sunday afternoon, authorities said.

Timothy Hughes, 59, and Daniel Hughes, 24, came out to Lake St. Clair Metropark early Saturday morning. They were due back home later that day, but never returned.

At about 2 a.m. Sunday, the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office sent word to its counterparts in Macomb County. Macomb activated its marine team, and the U.S. and Canadian coast guards assisted in the search-and-rescue mission. Some 13 hours later, the men’s bodies were recovered in Canadian waters, about four miles from Seaway Island. Their boat was in the area as well.

Hours earlier, police had found a pick-up truck and boat trailer belonging to the two men at the Lake St. Clair Metropark Boat Launch.

The men’s families have been notified, police say.

[Read More – The Detroit News]

Tour bus crash in California kills at least 13, closes I-10

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tbcrash-3Palm Springs, California: Thirteen people were killed when a tour bus slammed into the back of a big rig on Interstate 10 near Palm Springs on Sunday morning while the bus was carrying a group of passengers to Los Angeles after a trip to a casino near the Salton Sea.

Thirty-one people were injured in the the predawn crash, which shut down the westbound side of the freeway for much of the day.

Passengers were believed to be sleeping when the bus collided with the tractor-trailer truck shortly after 5 a.m., California Highway Patrol Chief Jim Abele said at a news conference.

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“It was a substantial impact,” Abele said, explaining that the bus plowed 15 feet into the back of the truck.

A total of 44 passengers were aboard the bus. The bus driver was among those killed, Abele said. He described the survivors’ injuries as minor to moderate.

He said it was unclear why the bus was traveling at a much faster speed than the truck. It’s also unclear whether drugs or alcohol were involved, or whether fatigue was a factor, Abele said.

“Right now we’re looking at everything,” Abele told reporters.

He did not give the nationalities of the victims but said authorities were in contact with consular officials of Mexico, Japan and Australia. He said the driver of the truck survived and had minor injuries.

Officials with the National Transportation Safety Board were on their way to participate in the investigation.

The freeway was littered with mangled wreckage and the front of the bus was enveloped by the big rig’s trailer.

Dozens of firefighters swarmed the scene, struggling to reach victims. They used chainsaws to break open the vehicle and make their way into its front, even though it was clear there was barely any room to fit inside.

[Read More]

Smash-and-grab gun shop burglaries rise in Carolinas

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(Greenville News) — While the Oct. 13 smash-and-grab burglary at The Gun Shop may have been an isolated incident for Simpsonville, it’s one of several in the region that have caught the attention of law enforcement, including the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF).

Just before 3 a.m. on Oct. 13, Simpsonville police said three unknown suspects drove a stolen, white Chrysler minivan with a North Carolina license plate through the front door. The suspects then stole an undisclosed number of handguns before fleeing in a waiting getaway car, according to Simpsonville police investigator James Donnelly.

Eight days later, a case eerily similar to the one in Simpsonville took place near Charlotte. According to police reports, a stolen Mercedes SUV was intentionally driven through the front of Eagle Guns in Concord, North Carolina around 3 a.m. Friday morning. After the crash, weapons were stolen.

According to reports, more than 420 guns have been stolen in the Charlotte area this year.

“North Carolina’s getting slammed,” Donnelly said.

The act of purposely driving a vehicle into a store to burglarize it has become common enough that it’s now called ram-raiding. According to news reports, vehicles have also been driven into gun shops in Buford, Georgia, Newport News, Virginia and Louisville, Kentucky since July.

Federal investigators are offering a cash reward of up to $15,000 for tips leading to the arrest of those responsible for the incident at The Gun Shop.

The ATF is offering a reward of up to $7,500, which will be matched by the National Shooting Sports Foundation — the trade association for the firearms industry — for a total of $15,000, Special Agent Gerod King of the Charlotte division of ATF said.

“One of the crimes becoming more prevalent in North and South Carolina has been gun shop burglaries and robberies,” King said. “We’re putting a priority on those, so therefore we’re offering rewards on pretty much all of these cases throughout the Carolinas.”

The Gun Shop manager Adam Medlin and Donnelly said they could not say what was taken from the shop as the ATF has yet to release that information. Donnelly said the case is progressing well though, and even better than he expected at this point.

“Things are looking positive and we should have some resolution soon,” Donnelly said.

Two days after the minivan destroyed the entrance at The Gun Shop, the store reopened for business, albeit with a very different look. The 3-year-old shop’s front door used to have windows on either side with security bars in one section of the windows. The windows and glass door were framed by a brick border.

After reopening on Oct. 15, the windows that were located on one side of the door have been replaced by a red concrete wall. A barred window remains on the other side of the glass door, but now in front of the glass portion of the building are five red concrete bollards separated a few feet apart.

Simpsonville Interim Police Chief Steve Moore believes the last time a Simpsonville gun shop was burglarized prior to this occurred in 2009. He said thieves in that case broke through a concrete block at the back entrance with a sledgehammer. The latest incident has him wondering what’s next.

“Businesses like these try to take precautions because they know this could happen. … The Gun Shop looked pretty secure (in the past),” Moore said. “That doesn’t account for the brazen, drive-your-car-through-the-front-door sort of guys that we had happen here.

“Any kind of physical security that you have up can be defeated given the ability of the criminal or outside the box thinking.”

While there are quite a few other stores that sell guns in Simpsonville, including pawn shops and Walmart, the Gun Shop is the first with a shooting range. Prior to opening on June 1, 2013, a city ordinance was changed to allow the discharging of a firearm in an indoor shooting gallery within city limits.

Moore said a big concern during debate by City Council when discussing the ordinance change was noise. He said the Police Department has yet to hear a complaint of noise coming from The Gun Shop.

“They spoke with the library next door, and library officials didn’t have an ounce of concern,” Simpsonville Planning and Zoning Manager Jason Knudsen said. “There’s nothing over and beyond they had to do to open there. … The range itself had to be approved by federal regulations.

“There’s no public safety issue there. It’s only a perceived issue.”

Anyone who was in the area of N.E. Main St. between 2:30 a.m. and 3 a.m. on Oct. 13 is asked to contact Donnelly at jdonnelly@simpsonvillepd.com or call Greenville County Crime Stoppers at 864-23-CRIME.

Tipsters can also contact the ATF at 1-800-ATF-GUNS or email ATFTips@atf.gov.

All calls and tips will be kept confident