4-year-old shot in drive-by shooting in Detroit, Monica Conyers running for executive, a reconstructed tongue

WEDNESDAY NEWS HIT - The Oak Park High School will be closed to students Wednesday following an altercation between several adults and security personnel at the district building yesterday.

According to a letter posted on the Oak Park School District's Facebook page, a fight broke out between "eight to ten adult males" who pushed past security and staff outside the building Tuesday and began fighting with students and other security personnel inside the high school building. 

The men eventually fled after security officials secured the building. It happened around 3 p.m.

So far, none of the men are in custody. One has been identified. 

Out of an abundance of caution since the suspects have still not been caught, "OPHS will be closed to students and families tomorrow," read the letter signed by Superintendent Dr. Jamii Hitchcock. No students will be allowed to enter the campus building today. 

Instead, students will be required to remotely log their first period class at 8 a.m. and participate in classes following their regular schedule on Thursday and Friday this week. Virtual attendance will be required for all students. 

All pre-K through eighth grade and NOVA Academy students will continue going to school. 

It's not entirely clear what triggered the fight between the men, but the district says it believes another altercation that happened over the weekend off school property is playing a factor. 

The district is conducting an internal review of the incident, including gathering eyewitness interviews and a review of video evidence and social media posts about the incident. 

While one of the men has been identified, the district is working to I.D. the remaining individuals who were involved. 

No weapons were involved in the fight. 

OPHS staff will meet at the school Wednesday to discuss the events that took lace. 

If anyone has information on the incident, they're encouraged to contact the Oak Park Department of Public Safety at (248) 691-7520. 

4-year-old struck during drive-by shooting in Detroit

A child was struck by a bullet in a Detroit home during an apparent drive-by shooting on the city's west side Wednesday morning. Detroit police have been investigating the scene since 3 a.m. when they received a report of a 4-year-old boy shot in the back side.

The victim is in critical condition at Children's Hospital. According to police, the child was lying in their bed when at least four shots were fired into the home, located in the 18400 block of Stout, just west of Evergreen Road. 

The victim was struck once. Police don't have a description of the suspect or their vehicle. Instead, they'll be canvassing the area and checking on any home cameras for help finding evidence.

It's not clear what prompted the shooting. If anyone has any information, they're advised to get in touch with police. 

Taylor suspends auxiliary police unit after volunteer shooting

The city of Taylor has temporarily suspended its auxiliary police program pending the outcome of a Michigan State Police investigation into an accidental shooting that left a civilian volunteer in a hospital. Ben Shotts, who is recovering from a hospital bed, told FOX 2 his first reaction was "what the hell?" 

"'Why did you not check your firearm?’ Because your number one responsibility as a responsible firearm carrier, is to know the condition of your weapon," he said. Yet, because the auxiliary cadet did not, he paid the price with a round to his stomach.

"I’m in constant pain, the doctors tell me it doesn’t matter how much medicine they give me, I’m going to always have some pain," he said. The shooting happened at Heritage Park over the weekend during a training session with Taylor's backup police officers.

Ben says everyone on the training op had either a fake firearm or a real firearm that they were responsible for clearing it before they got started, meaning you removed the magazine which holds the bullets, and you check the chamber to make sure there’s no bullet inside of it. "I don’t know why in the world this guy walked out without an orange gun, or at least a weapon that had been cleared because that is the rule," he said.

Monica Conyers candidacy for Wayne County executive complicated by past conviction

Monica Conyers wants your vote for Wayne County Executive. But her bribery conviction while she was on the Detroit City Council in 2009 may complicate her election efforts. The wife of the late, long-serving U.S. Rep. John Conyers, Monica Conyers was sentenced to 37 months. 

Her interest in challenging for the top job in Wayne County is raising questions about a state law that bars anyone from serving office for at least 20 years after they were convicted of a felony for abusing the public's trust. 

"I was surprised that she filed to run, and I think, you know what?  Someone needs to challenge the law. I think it's unconstitutional," said Adolph Mongo, political consultant. Political wonks see a double standard since another individual convicted of bribery, Sam Riddle, has filed to run for Congress. He doesn't face the same hurdles that Conyers does.

"They paid the price, they served whatever time they had to serve and they have been punished they should have a right to run," Mongo added. Of course to win she'd have to beat current Executive Warren Evans and a number of other challenger candidates. The deadline to file to run in the August primary election was last Friday.

Henry Ford doctors reconstruct tongue with cancer patient's arm muscle

When June McKie discovered a lump on her tongue, she learned that she had stage two cancer. "It would just burn. It was like someone had thrown gasoline in the mouth and set it on fire," she said. McKie was referred to Dr. Tamer Ghanem at Henry Ford Hospital, who realized the tumor was on her tonsil. Traditional surgery would have been difficult, so he incorporated another method.

"Now we have the ability to use robotic surgery to get back far in the back of the tongue to do cancer removal without splitting the lip, splitting the jaw," he said. After the tumor and 35% of the tongue were removed, McKie's tongue had to be reconstructed.

Ghanem used muscle and tissue from McKie's arm to fix her tongue. "It's not mobile tissue like normal tongue tissue, but as you can see June is doing amazing with her speech – she’s very understandable," Ghanem said.

McKie said she is feeling great. "I feel good, I really do," she said. "I'm at the best of health. I thank God for Dr. Ghanem." McKie admits that in her teenage years she did smoke but says it’s unclear how she got tongue cancer. Doctors say most patients get this form of cancer from smoking or drinking.

What else we're watching

1. Rising interest rates are pricing buyers out of the housing market. They're also causing the mortgage industry to slump, leading to buyouts at Rocket Mortgage, the country's largest housing lender. 
2. Curious about all those last-minute delays and flight cancelations? Too few staff for airlines and fatigue among pilots is causing more disruption among the travel industry.
3. A Super Pac supporting one candidate for governor is challenging the petitions of another in the race for the Republican nomination. The PAC, which supports Tudor Dixon, alleges that James Craig failed to obtain enough signatures due to too many duplicates to qualify for the race. 
4. And in more state politics news, Matt Maddock, a Republican was ousted from the state party caucus over complaints he was fundraising against incumbent opponents and levying influence for a run at the speakership in the Michigan house. 
5. The NAACP is demanding the Michigan attorney general investigate the police shooting of Patrick Lyoya in Grand Rapids. The civil rights group is accusing the county prosecutor's office of having a longstanding relationship with the police department, which it argues could lead to bias. 

Live on FOX 2

Daily Forecast

Does it feel like winter again? It is still spring, but Michigan is pumping out a few final days of cold before the spring warm-up kicks into gear this weekend and next week. 

Harvard atones for university's ties to slavery, pledges $100M to research

Harvard University is vowing to spend $100 million to study and atone for its extensive ties with slavery, the school’s president announced Tuesday, with plans to identify and support the descendants of enslaved people who labored at the Ivy League campus.

President Lawrence Bacow announced the funding as Harvard released a new report detailing the many ways the college benefited from slavery and perpetuated racial inequality. But the report stops short of recommending direct financial reparations, and officials have no immediate plans for that kind of support.

Harvard, the nation’s oldest and wealthiest college, is the latest among a growing number of U.S. schools attempting to confront their involvement with slavery and also make amends for it.

Most were identified only by a single name, such as Cesar, Dinah and Venus.

"Enslaved men and women served Harvard presidents and professors and fed and cared for Harvard students," researchers found. "Moreover, throughout this period and well into the 19th century, the University and its donors benefited from extensive financial ties to slavery."

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