Three young men entered the main lobby of the Red Roof Inn, 17600 Dix Road, Melvindale, at 4:43 a.m. June 14, and went to the second floor. Soon afterward, a gunshot was heard. No injuries were reported. The men left through a stairwell and side exit door.
No injuries report; motive remains unclear
By SUE SUCHYTA
Sunday Times Newspapers
MELVINDALE – Three young men who entered the Melvindale Red Roof Inn at 4:43 a.m. June 14 before a single gunshot was heard remain at large, their motive and identity unknown.
A Melvindale police officer saw the three white men ride bicycles up to the hotel, then walk them into the lobby. One of the men kept glancing outside, seeming as a lookout.
The officer called for backup, then approached the lobby, where he heard a single gunshot fired from inside the building.
As other police officers arrived, the hotel clerk was evacuated from the rear office, while others police officers established a perimeter.
Surveillance footage would later show that the three men, after going to the second floor, exited through a stairwell and a side door, abandoning their bicycles in the lobby.
A nearby school bus stop was moved further away, to protect students, and the school district and people in nearby businesses and residential homes were advised of the situation.
Police officers from Dearborn, Lincoln Park and the Downriver Mutual Aid Special Weapons and Tactics team responded, and the perimeter was extended.
The SWAT team then cleared each room in the hotel. No injuries were discovered, and no more light was shed upon why the three men entered the building.
Police detectives are reviewing surveillance footage to try to determine the timeline. The bicycles abandoned by the three men were taken into evidence.
In an unrelated matter, a hotel guest who had active warrants was questioned and taken into custody.
The investigation remains active.
Mayor Wheeler Marsee said at the June 15 City Council meeting that the situation could have turned out very differently.
“It could have been devastating to our community,” he said.
Marsee thanked the Dearborn and Lincoln Park police officers and the Downriver Mutual Aid SWAT team for their help.
Police Chief Dan Jones said June 15 that they took the actions that they did because they had a hotel full of tenants that they wanted to make sure were safe before they moved forward.