MSP investigating report of 'shots fired' on EB I-696 near Telegraph in Southfield

Christine Ferretti
The Detroit News

Southfield — Michigan State Police are investigating a report of "shots fired on the freeway" at eastbound Interstate 696 near Telegraph. 

The department, in a Twitter post, noted the incident took place around 5:50 p.m. and the preliminary investigation revealed that a 911 caller reported his vehicle was struck by a stray bullet. The driver told police that he saw "two vehicles shooting at each other and his car had its window shot out."

 "Troopers have confirmed a bullet hole in the vehicle," the tweet notes. "There were no injuries."

The report is the third the state police have investigated on Metro Detroit freeways since Friday.

Westbound I-696 near Woodward Avenue was shut down for several hours Friday as state police investigated a shooting that authorities described as "road rage."

The victim in that case said he was operating his flatbed tow truck on westbound I-696 near Woodward "when he was involved in a road rage incident with a Black male operating a Chevrolet sedan."

The encounter occurred around 2:35 p.m. and the tow truck driver was not hit. The driver had reported to police that a driver behind him was upset, possibly with the flow of traffic, before firing the shot. 

State police said the suspect, a 19-year-old man from Troy, and his girlfriend, a 16-year-old girl from Sterling Heights, were interviewed by investigators. 

"Further information revealed that the suspect cut off the tow truck and the two began road raging,' MSP said on Twitter. 

Due to the low traffic volume at the time, police said, the tow truck driver got out of his vehicle and began screaming at the suspect. Once he got back into the tow truck, the backseat passenger in the suspect's vehicle passed him a black and silver BB gun and told him to fire at the tow truck, police said. 

Passengers in the suspect's car provided police with similar statements, MSP noted.

The BB gun was recovered by police at a residence in Sterling Heights. The suspect was taken to Oakland County Jail pending further investigation and prosecutor review.

Earlier Friday, state police were investigating a possible shooting on I-96 near the Southfield Freeway.

In that incident, the driver of a Dodge Charger was traveling on the I-96 local/express ramp around 8:30 a.m. when his front passenger window was blown out. Police later said that they believed a rock struck the window or the driver may have shot out of the vehicle himself.

The driver has a valid pistol license and had his weapon on him, officials said. State police took the weapon as evidence and sent it to a crime lab for analysis.

Troopers swept the freeway and did not find any glass or evidence where the driver described the incident occurred, authorities said.

cferretti@detroitnews.com