A Michigan man is in custody after a quadruple homicide left his four children dead and their mother in critical condition from an apparent stabbing.
Police in the city of Dearborn Heights responded to the family around 1am Wednesday and took a suspect into custody. An investigation is under way, but Dearborn Heights police chief Lee Gavin said the incident appeared to be related to “some type of family altercation” and that there was “no threat to the community”.
Authorities said the siblings were ages four, six, 17 and 19 years old. Based on the preliminary investigation, police said, it appeared the four- and six-year-old girls were asphyxiated in a vehicle located in the family’s garage. The suspect then moved the bodies back inside and into their bedrooms. The older children were found bound and shot.
“Our hearts go out to the family and friends,” Gavin said. “It’s a tragic situation.”
At a press conference on Wednesday, Dearborn Heights police captain Michael Petri said the suspect placed the 911 call at 1.15am and “stated that he had shot members of his family inside the home”. The man, who police have not named, is the biological father of the two younger children. Authorities have yet to speak to the father of the two older siblings.
“All this seemed to stem from a domestic-violence-related incident,” Petri said. Police declined to disclose what type of weapon was used.
Dearborn Heights police had no prior runs to the family’s house, Petri said. The mother was transported to a nearby hospital, and Petri said she was in stable condition. “It does appear that her injuries were not life-threatening and, hopefully, she will make a recovery,” he said.
Neighbors were stunned to wake up on Wednesday and find police cruisers surrounding the family’s home, located on a quiet street lined with ranch homes. Birthday decorations could be seen hanging off a white awning at the family’s home, and a small pool and bench swing were situated nearby. Earlier this morning, children were playing outside an elementary school at the end of the block.
A neighbor, Karen Radtke, said the family moved in across the street from her home about three years ago, but she never interacted with them. It was a “shock”, she said, to find out what had happened.
“I always just see the little girls in the backyard, playing with their dog,” she said.
Another neighbor said his wife woke him up around 1am last night. She heard the suspect and his wife arguing out front. Then, a gunshot.
“I said, well, if you hear a gunshot in this neighborhood at 1 o’clock in the morning – if you hear a boom – it’s unusual,” said Jeff, a neighbor who declined to give his last name and has lived on the block for 25 years. “It’s not a firecracker.”
At the press conference, Dearborn Heights mayor Dan Paletko said he had been affiliated with the city of 56,000 – located about 20 minutes west of Detroit – for 45 years, and “I can’t remember another instance of this magnitude”.
“As a father, I think all of us can appreciate how important one’s kids are,” Paletko said. “I just can’t fathom this.”
