5-year-old girl killed, mother shot 16 times in Detroit in family argument

DETROIT (WJBK) - A 5-year-old child is dead and her mother shot 16 timed after a man barged into their home on Detroit's west side opening fire Thursday night.

"This is tragic. The child in an innocent victim," said Detroit police Commander Elaine Bryant.

Police say the woman in stable condition.

"We have information that the mother and her siblings, her sisters have been involved in an ongoing dispute. We believe that that's part of this tragedy," said Detroit Police Chief James Craig.

Detroit girl, 5, killed; mom shot 16 times following family dispute

Craig says they don't know if the child was targeted too but it appears that way. There were several other people inside the home off Lyndon St. when the shooting happened. They were not hurt. 

"Some of the witnesses have reported hours before there was a very loud argument, not physical, between the sisters," the chief said.

A manhunt for the shooter through the overnight hours led police to execute a search warrant at a home off Evergreen near West Chicago. Chief Craig says his officers entered the home and were met with an armed man, who Craig says was fatally shot by police.

"There was a suspect, who was seated or lying on a couch, and he was armed with an AK-47 type weapon," he said.

It's unclear if that man was wanted in connection to the murder of the 5 year old girl the night before. 

"Whether he's the suspect involved in the shooting the night prior, he is now he is now a suspect in a felonious assault against a Detroit police officer," Craig said.

The man's family says police made a mistake.

"I saw my brother laying there," said Daryl Driver, the brother of the man shot.

But Chief Craig says before officers entered the home they used verbal commands saying that they were coming inside. 

"As he was making entry -- get down, get down, get down," Craig said.

Police arrested one woman inside of the home after the raid. Craig says she is the sister of the woman shot Thursday night. Another man is also in custody in connection to that shooting.