9 shot at metro Detroit splash pad, including 4- and 8-year-old siblings and their mom

Jarrett Schmidt, 43, told news reporters he was at his mother’s house down the street when he sprang into action, grabbing his medical kit he owns because he concealed carries.

“Some of these people I know personally,” Schmidt said. “I’ve lived here all my life. … I put compression bandages and tourniquets on people, that’s what I was here to do.”

The shooter, a 42-year-old white male, died by suicide after leaving the scene to go to a house, Bouchard said. Police had been trying to communicate with the man with little success.

A 9mm handgun and three empty magazines were from the splash pad. But what was found in the house showed that the shooter may have had other plans, Bouchard said, showing a photo of an AR Platform rifle laying on the kitchen table.

“In my worst nightmare, I couldn’t imagine standing up here again talking about another active shooter,” Bouchard said.

Earlier in the day as Bouchard was sharing preliminary details about the shooting, he talked about the scars the Oxford High School shooting has left on the county. In November 2021, a 15-year-old student killed four other students and injured several others in the school. 

“It’s a gut punch, obviously, for us here in Oakland County; we’ve gone through so many tragedies. We’re not even fully comprehending what happened at Oxford and now we have another complete tragedy that we’re dealing with,” Bouchard said.

Although police are looking for a manifesto or a motive for the shooter’s actions, the victims appear random, with no relationship to the shooter. Bouchard said the location even seems random, as the shooter was not a resident of Rochester Hills.

“It may be very much like Michigan State University where the person had no connection to Michigan State, but just decided to go there and find victims,” Bouchard said.

MSU’s shooting happened on the eve of Valentine’s Day, killing three students on Feb. 13, 2023. Saturday’s shooting in Rochester Hills took place just before Father’s Day on Sunday.

A mural in Oxford, Michigan. | Photo by Anna Gustafson

“None of us in this room in this community or in this country, anticipated going into Father’s Day weekend with this kind of tragedy that families will be deeply affected by forever,” Bouchard said.

Brooklands Plaza Splash Pad is across the street from an ice cream shop and a short walk down the street from Reuther Middle School. The splash pad is a popular spot for kids who then hobble across the street with their families after a hot summer’s day for ice cream, the Advance was told in talking with locals on the scene.

It’s a close-knit community. The Brooklands neighborhood is the oldest one in Rochester Hills, Rochester Hills Mayor Bryan K. Barnett said. And the city is committed to supporting the families impacted by the shooting with its full focus.

“When I got on scene I started to cry because I know what a splash pad is supposed to be. It’s supposed to be a place where people gather, where families make memories, where people have fun and enjoy a Saturday afternoon and it wasn’t today,” Barnett said.

Throughout the 18 years Barnett has been mayor, he’s sent messages to other community leaders offering support when tragedy knocks on their door, but Saturday stands as a reminder that these kinds of things can happen anywhere, he said.

“What normally happens in our city didn’t happen,” Barnett said.

U.S. Rep. John James (R-Shelby Twp.) stood with Bouchard at the press conference urging individuals to seek out mental health help if they need it and implored the public to understand government needs to work on all levels to ensure communities stay safe.

“Under no circumstances is it normal for ice cream cones and flip flops to be strewn amongst blood and bullet casings,” James said.