FeedsCharges expected in ‘accidental’ shooting
Northville Township police expect to arraign a suspect today on an alleged accidental shooting that took place yesterday in Northville Township.
The police and fire departments responded to the medical emergency at about 4 a.m. on July 13, according to Lt. Greg Rhodes of the township police department. The found a 20-year old Livonia man with a wound on his leg.
“It might not normally be serious, but (the bullet) hit an artery,” said Township Manager Chip Snider, who also serves as public safety director.
The investigation is still ongoing, but as of Friday morning, police believe this is what happened:
A group of four individuals, all from Livonia, parked at the nearby Northridge Condominiums with the intention to enter the groups of the former Northville State Psychiatric Hospital off Seven Mile Road.
Police believe all were intoxicated at the time. When the suspect, a security guard from the Archdiocese of Detroit, exited the rear of the two-door Chevy Cavalier they arrived in, the gun accidentally went off, wounding the victim.
The guard brought the firearm along as protection because of rumors of vagrants being in the tunnels beneath the sprawling 400-acre hospital site.
“The (suspect) had a valid Concealed Weapons permit and the weapon was properly registered,” Rhodes said.
He still faces charged because it’s illegal to be in possession of a firearm while intoxicated.
Police believe the suspect knew that, too, because when asked for his cell phone to dial 911, he refused, leaving his companions to flag down help from the roadway.
Details of the incident were slow to materialize because of the condition of those involved, according to Snider.
“We had to sober them up before we could interview them,” he said.
The victim was kept under guard at a nearby hospital while the suspect and his other companions were transported to the Northville Township lockup facility.
The suspect has been placed under arrest and charges are expected to be filed today.
