A Michigan couple suffered serious gunshot wounds while protecting their two young children from a rampaging gunman at a nearby splash park.
Micayla and Eric Coughlin were grabbing ice cream with their two children, ages 2 and 7 months, and headed to the Brooklands Plaza Splash Pad when shots rang out Saturday around 5 p.m.
Within just a minute of arriving at the splash park, the Coughlins began hearing gunfire. according to a GoFundMe founded by their friend.
“In an effort to save their children, they each grabbed a child to protect them,” the fundraiser said.
‘Their heroic actions protected their children and allowed them to go home that evening.’
Micayla and Eric suffered a total of seven gunshot wounds while heroically saving their children and are being treated at a local hospital.
Also injured in the attack were Eric and Micayla Coughlin, who were trying to protect their two young children
Other victims of the shooting around 5 p.m. in the Denver suburb of Richmond Hills include the wife of a city employee, who was at the splash pad with 14 family members and friends — three of whom were struck by bullets. the Detroit News reports.
The unidentified woman suffered a broken arm and a gunshot wound to her abdomen.
“When I spoke to her husband, he was in shock, but he is grateful his family is doing well and is focused on supporting them,” Mayor Bryan Barnett said.
Police have said the oldest victim in Saturday night’s shooting was a 78-year-old man who was shot in the abdomen and is in stable condition, while the youngest was a four-year-old boy who was wounded in the thigh. His condition is also stable.
His mother, a 39-year-old woman, was hit in the abdomen and leg. She remains in critical condition, according to the sheriff’s office.
A total of nine people were shot at the Brooklands Plaza Splash Pad on Saturday evening
Police say the gunman drove to the splash pad and fired a total of 28 shots from a 9mm handgun before fleeing the scene and killing himself.
Meanwhile, an eight-year-old boy was shot in the head and remains in critical condition.
In all, authorities say gunman Michael William Nash, 42, shot nine people at the splash pad Saturday night before fleeing the scene and killing himself.
A motive for the shooting remains unclear.
“As far as ‘why,’ I don’t know,” said Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard.
He noted at an earlier news conference that the shooting “seems very random.”
“It appears the subject stopped, exited a vehicle, approached the splash pad, opened fire, reloaded, opened fire, reloaded, left,” he said.
The suspect was apparently in no hurry. “I just calmly walked back to his car,” he added.
No other casualties have been reported.
But some heartless scammers are now taking advantage of the tragedy to set up fake GoFundMe pages, tickling the hearts of well-wishers.
Police would also later find the vehicle he drove to the splash pad on a nearby property and send a drone to the shooter’s home.
One claimed to have been set up by the husband of one of the victims.
It said his pregnant wife was 29 weeks pregnant and lost her unborn child while her eight-year-old son was “fighting for his life.”
But Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard announced Sunday that “the site is a complete fraud.”
“These bottom-feeding bastards are taking advantage of this tragedy,” he said in a statement.
“They have already shown their character.”