Police find gunman dead in motel room
Nine Mile Road closed for several hours due to standoff
A barricaded gunman situation at a St. Clair Shores motel ended after six hours early Friday morning when police found the gunman dead from an apparent selfinflicted gunshot wound, according to police.
St. Clair Shores police and fire personnel were dispatched about 9 p.m. Thursday to Shore Pointe Motor Lodge at 20000 Nine Mile Road east of Interstate 94 after a motel guest called for medical assistance.
“The caller indicated he was not feeling well and was possibly having a breakdown,” police said in a news release.
As officers arrived and headed toward the guest’s second-floor room, they heard gunshots coming from inside the unit. Officers and paramedics took cover and began evacuating other guests from their rooms.
Witnesses told police they had earlier seen the guest outside of his room armed with an AK-47 rifle. Witnesses also told Macomb County Scanner, an online news site, that they had seen the man fire more than a dozen shots from
the rifle. According to the release, officers attempted numerous times to communicate with the gunman without success. The city’s SWAT team responded to the scene and also tried to communicate with the individual.
Police entered the room around 3:15 a.m. and found the man inside the room. No other injuries were reported.
Because of reported gunfire, police closed a portion of Nine Mile between I-94 and Harper Avenue until the situation was resolved. The road has since been reopened.