Detroit firefighter questioned over man's shooting, 1 dead after Wayne Co. theft, James Meece up for parole

Investigators say a complicated case has been presented to them after one man's shooting in the head and three being brought into custody. Adding to the dimensions of law enforcement's investigation is one of the people being questioned is a city employee - a firefighter.

Police say several people were in the house at the time, including children.

"There are a lot of conflicting reports in this. All the parties that are involved in this are being detained and being questioned," said Detroit Police Major Crimes Commander Eric Decker. 

Around noon Thursday, a man was shot in the head in a home in the 6300 block of Barton Street, on the city's west side near Livernois and Tireman. 

"We don’t currently know exactly the chain of events or who fired the weapon and that is our job to figure out at this time," Decker said. "We'll do our interviews, we'll do our scene investigation, and of course through the evidence."

Police declined to offer more details about the circumstances but did say the people involved knew each other. A gun has been recovered amid the investigation.

The status of the man injured at last check was that he was in critical condition. 

Even with the added complexity of a city employee being questioned, the investigation won't be handled any differently. 

"It's handled like any other shooting, any other homicide. Our job is to investigate the crime, to follow the evidence and find out to the best of our ability what happened," Decker said. 

Man dies after driving stolen car into Wayne County rail yard retention pond

A man is dead after he drove a vehicle believed to have been among six stolen from a Wayne County rail yard. 

The crash happened around 4 a.m. Thursday at the CSX Railyard on Pennsylvania Road in Huron Township. The crash also appears to be the result of several other crimes that happened in the same area.

According to CSX, several people were trespassing in the rail yard and stole six new cars from the site. So far, police have managed to recover three.

While the thefts are surprising to one resident who lives nearby, the reckless driving is less so.

"Kind of to me really it's not surprising. Like I said, you watch them race up and down here sometimes, maybe the theft part is a little bit surprising. But as fast as they've driven by here and the stunts I've seen them pull in some of these cars, ending up in the pond doesn't surprise me," said George Pappas.

Responding to the thefts, Huron Township and Romulus police departments said one of the drivers lost control of the car before crashing into the pond. 

Other thefts have been reported from the site as well. Over the summer, a Dearborn man took nearly 2,000 key fobs to new cars waiting to be shipped around the country.

CSX security is investigating the thefts. It's unclear how exactly the man driving yesterday died.

A sex offender fugitive is up for parole, terrifying his victims

James Meece was on the run from U.S. Marshals for 20 years before he was caught this August. The 71-year-old had carried a laundry list of federal weapons and sexual misconduct charges across the country before he was discovered in a California home.

Meece swindled women for years, masquerading as a trustworthy figure and a war veteran before he would sexually assault them or their children. He committed crimes in Ohio before moving up to Escanaba in the Upper Peninsula. 

Convicted of criminal sexual conduct in 1991, he was paroled in 1999. But when it was time to register as a tier-three sex offender, he failed to show up. It took two decades to find him.

Now, survivors of the 71-year-old have scorned memories of the man returning to life after being notified of his potential upcoming parole.

“Yes, he might be a little bald old man with a swollen leg now but that evil mind is inside that head, that does not change," said Susan Anderson, whose daughters were sexually abused by Meece. And now, after hearing Meece has a parole hearing in the next 30-45 days, their whole family is terrified. 

“As children, he’s a scary man. And if you look at him now he still has that same scary feature. He’s never stopped committing crimes,” said Jennifer Gylock, who survived Meece's abuse.

The women say they have enjoyed five to six weeks of peace in the last 20 years since his incarceration. Now, the thought of his release terrifies them.

“The only thing that we can do is try to put him in prison and let him stay there until he dies," Anderson said. 

Lawsuit challenging election law banning open-carry of firearms at polling places

Gun owners have filed a lawsuit against the Michigan Secretary of State over a new election law that bans open-carry of firearms within 100 feet of polling places in the state.

Attorney Dean Greenblatt said political overtones hung over the directive, which came earlier this week.

"Not every town around here is like the suburbs and for a fat, bald, old white guy like me, middle class, I'm going to get in my SUV and I'm going to drive to your local polling place and I'm going to carry concealed if I want to exercise my right to self-protection," Greenblatt said.

However, a statement attributed to Secretary Jocelyn Benson argued the law was a "narrowly tailored directive (that) does not infringe upon the right to bear arms."

With less than two weeks until the election, courts will have to move quickly to issue a ruling in time. 

Kid Rock spotted in audience of final debate

Among those spotted in the sparsely-attended final presidential debate was Michigan's own Kid Rock.

The musician and high-profile Trump supporter spends much of his time in Nashville, where the debate was held Thursday night.

A photo of Kid Rock and golfer John Daly showed them not wearing masks and were reportedly approached by an employee who gave them masks to wear.

Kid Rock has headlined several campaign events for Trump, including a Make America Great Again! event in Macomb County recently.

Michigan cancer survivor running 4 marathons in 24 hours for charity

A cancer survivor from Dexter is planning an incredible cardio feat: running four marathons in 24 hours.

From cancer to law school, Dan Engeler has never shied away from the challenges that life has thrown at him.

"I had a doctor who said, 'Focus on the end of the tunnel. There's a light at the end of the tunnel. That’s what you need to get through this,'" Engeler said. "The reason for doing a marathon was to do a big mental challenge."

His first marathon was just last year but this year he challenged himself to do something even bigger.

In addition to the running challenge, he's also trying to raise $50,000 for a dog rescue that helps canines recover from abuse.

Other stories

1. Michigan's Dr. Khaldun: just because it's permitted it does not mean that is a good idea to do it
2. A pumpkin with a purpose: photo prop bringing strangers together in St. Clair Shores
3. New app that rents parking spaces coming to metro Detroit
4. Oakland County launches in-home flu vaccines for elderly
5. Biden would create commission to study adding justices to the U.S. Supreme Court

Daily Forecast

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FDA approves Gilead's remdesivir, first drug for treating COVID-19

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Thursday approved Gilead Sciences’ antiviral drug remdesivir as a treatment for COVID-19 patients requiring hospitalization.

The drug is now the first fully approved treatment in the U.S. for the novel coronavirus, which has killed more than 1.1 million people around the world, according to Johns Hopkins University.

Remdesivir, which is sold under the brand name Veklury, was granted an emergency use authorization by the FDA in May. 

A large study led by the U.S. National Institutes of Health found the drug cut the time to recovery by five days — from 15 days to 10 on average. It is given to patients through an IV, and in some cases, also a steroid.