Woman killed, man hurt in downtown shooting
Incident happens after Motown Winter Blast closing time
Joel Kurth and David Shepardson / The Detroit News
DETROIT - A 24-year-old woman is dead and a man is in surgery Detroit Receiving Hospital with wounds after an early-morning shooting near the site of Super Bowl XL.
A bar altercation about 1:30 a.m. at a bar on Woodward near Congress led to the shooting. Detroit Police Chief Ella Bully Cummings said the victims were Michigan residents and not out-of-town residents in town for Sunday's game at Ford Field. She said the incident, while tragic, would not ruin the goodwill Detroit has built leading to the game.
"We refuse to let one individual who engaged in one cowardly act dampen the spirit of our people," she said at a 9:30 a.m. press conference today at police headquarters.
The shooting occurred just blocks from the Motown Winter Blast and occurred after the festival closed at 1 a.m., but thousands of revelers still packed downtown bars. Bully-Cummings revealed few details about the crime other than to call it a "tragic altercation (that) wasn"t a fight or verbal exchange."
The city's "best homicide detectives" are on the case, and Bully-Cummings called on the media to "help pull together to paint a picture of what Detroit is truly about."
No suspects are in custody.
In an interview earlier this week with The News, Bully-Cummings said her greatest fear was a shooting or another violent incident at an unsanctioned party, where people would have drinking heavily. She also noted that there were violent incidents around other Super Bowls. "We reviewed the after action reporters from Jacksonville and Houston and we know there are incidents," Bully-Cummings said.
Murders are uncommon in downtown Detroit, but not uncommon in Detroit, which has one of the highest murder rates in the country. The city reported 364 murders in 2005.
The city last had a high-profile shooting downtown in June 2004 during the annual international fireworks festival. Nine spectators were shot -- and one later died -- in a case that remains unsolved after the Wayne County prosecutor's office dismissed charges against the only suspect. At the time, NFL executives were in Detroit to watch how the city handled large crowds.
Incident happens after Motown Winter Blast closing time
Joel Kurth and David Shepardson / The Detroit News
DETROIT - A 24-year-old woman is dead and a man is in surgery Detroit Receiving Hospital with wounds after an early-morning shooting near the site of Super Bowl XL.
A bar altercation about 1:30 a.m. at a bar on Woodward near Congress led to the shooting. Detroit Police Chief Ella Bully Cummings said the victims were Michigan residents and not out-of-town residents in town for Sunday's game at Ford Field. She said the incident, while tragic, would not ruin the goodwill Detroit has built leading to the game.
"We refuse to let one individual who engaged in one cowardly act dampen the spirit of our people," she said at a 9:30 a.m. press conference today at police headquarters.
The shooting occurred just blocks from the Motown Winter Blast and occurred after the festival closed at 1 a.m., but thousands of revelers still packed downtown bars. Bully-Cummings revealed few details about the crime other than to call it a "tragic altercation (that) wasn"t a fight or verbal exchange."
The city's "best homicide detectives" are on the case, and Bully-Cummings called on the media to "help pull together to paint a picture of what Detroit is truly about."
No suspects are in custody.
In an interview earlier this week with The News, Bully-Cummings said her greatest fear was a shooting or another violent incident at an unsanctioned party, where people would have drinking heavily. She also noted that there were violent incidents around other Super Bowls. "We reviewed the after action reporters from Jacksonville and Houston and we know there are incidents," Bully-Cummings said.
Murders are uncommon in downtown Detroit, but not uncommon in Detroit, which has one of the highest murder rates in the country. The city reported 364 murders in 2005.
The city last had a high-profile shooting downtown in June 2004 during the annual international fireworks festival. Nine spectators were shot -- and one later died -- in a case that remains unsolved after the Wayne County prosecutor's office dismissed charges against the only suspect. At the time, NFL executives were in Detroit to watch how the city handled large crowds.
