DETROIT (WWJ) - Detroit police said the alleged gunmen who open fired on four victims in a non-fatal shooting outside the Westin hotel in Detroit on Friday were driving in a Jeep Grand Cherokee in the latest update to the case over the weekend.
Authorities made the announcement Saturday afternoon and provided a photo of surveillance footage that captured the suspect vehicle involved in the incident just after midnight Friday in the area of Michigan Avenue and Washington Blvd. outside the Westin Book-Cadillac Detroit hotel.
The Jeep was described as a newer model with red brake calipers.
In a press conference on Friday, Detroit Police Chief James White said the suspects and the victims knew one another and had an argument at a previous location before the violence spilled over outside the popular downtown hotel.
The suspects had driven up, parked and waited, White said. Once the victims arrived on scene, the suspects sped by in a dark colored SUV, identified as a Jeep Grand Cherokee, and open fired.
The victims, all males between the ages of 20 and 30-years-old, allegedly returned gunfire and the suspect vehicle fled the scene.
“The officers were there in this area and heard the shots and were so close, in fact, that they ended up conveying at least three of the victims to the hospital after they were shot," White said of his officers' response to the scene. "They also applied tourniquets to the victims, likely saving at least one of the victim’s lives."
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Three victims were said by White to be in critical condition as of Friday afternoon. The fourth victim was listed in temporary serious condition.Their conditions were not given in an update provided by police on Saturday.
White reiterated that the shooting stemmed directly from the conflict between the two groups and had nothing to do with the hotel, its guests or any business nearby.
"We know that we have two groups that were having some type of conflict with each other who met up earlier in the night at another location," White continued. "...they then moved from that location at separate times to the secondary location where the incident occurred.”
Detroit police are actively investigating the incident and gathering evidence and information. Anyone with any information about the shooting or who may recognize the suspect vehicle, has been asked to call Detroit police at 313-596-1340, Detective Barakat at 313-596-5350 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-Speak-Up.