Police look for 3 suspects after fatal triple shooting, kid mask rule in effect today, 'Nomadland' wins Oscars
MONDAY NEWS HIT - Detroit police say three men were killed in broad daylight Sunday afternoon in a triple shooting that has left a neighborhood on edge.
Law enforcement responded to the city's southwest side around 1 p.m. after reports of a deadly shooting that had escalated from a fight between two groups.
Police say they're looking for at least three suspects involved in the violence who drove away in two different pickup trucks.
"You know, Sunday afternoon, people enjoying their day, nice day, and someone decides to start firing, shooting away multiple gunshots," said Detroit Police Department Capt. Russell Solano. "We're lucky no innocent bystanders were hit."
The shooting happened on the 5400 block of Procter.
Because no one survived, piecing together what happened has made it that much more challenging for law enforcement. While police have been focusing attention on the black Yukon GMC that one of the suspects was in at the time, the captain admits they'll also need to rely on what others might have seen.
"We do not know the motive for this right now," said Salano. "We have to go door to door, we have to find people that may have seen something, we have to check with businesses and video cameras, so it's a lot of work."
There are a few details police have narrowed down. The men who died were all in their 30s, and at least two of them weren't from the area.
The suspects also fled in two separate pickup trucks, with two getting in a black Chevy pickup and another escaping in a green pickup.
Mask mandate for kids goes into effect today
Michigan's expanded mask mandate that includes kids ages 2-4 goes into effect today. After previously being exempt from the mask rule handed down by the state's health department, a new order requiring younger kids to wearing a face covering is now in place until May 24.
The new rule is in response to the growing role that kids have played in the transmission of COVID-19, as well as a recent spike in pediatric hospitalizations linked to the virus. Last week, the Michigan Hospital Association cited state data that showed 70 kids had been hospitalized with COVID-19, a consequence of the rampant spread of the coronavirus that's been tied to the rise of different variants and a drop in compliance of wearing a mask and social distancing.
Even as young people handle getting infected better, it hasn't left every child unscarred after contracting the disease. At least 10 kids in the state have died from the virus, according to the CovKid project.
Because much of Michigan's earlier outbreak was linked to schools, which had reintroduced classroom learning options in February and March, the state health department released a new epidemic order on April 16 that strengthened the mask mandate and reduced gathering sizes.
Bi-racial girl's haircut draws national attention
A 7-year-old girl who had her hair cut twice while at school is drawing national attention after her father, who says he had not given the district's permission to do so, moved her to a new school.
Jimmy Hoffmeyer said his daughter Jurnee, who is bi-racial, had her hair cut once by a student and again by a staff member at the school's library in Mount Pleasant. The first time it happened, it was on the bus. After Jurnee got her hair adjusted, she came home a few days later with more of her hair completely cut.
The National Parents Union believes races played a role in the child's hair getting cut. Christina Laster, the policy director at the union says "essentially, what they're saying is what naturally grows out of the children's body or your body is not tolerated."
The organization has taken up Jimmy and Jurnee's cause, using it to build momentum for the Crown Act, a law that prohibits race-based hair discrimination. The law has been pre-filed in 24 states, including Michigan. Employees involved in the incident have since both apologized.
Gilchrist: Scaling up mobile vaccines will improve coverage
While a lack of vaccine supplies is what plagued the state in its earlier months of rolling out shots, it's quickly about to have an oversupply of shots. The state's rate of administrations is starting to fall, even as much of its citizens remain unvaccinated.
Some of that is related to skepticism of the shot. A pause on more Johnson & Johnson vaccines after reports of a rare blood clotting side effect didn't help public opinion of the vaccines, with a new nationwide survey in the Washington Post showing fewer than half of all U.S. adults overall say they consider the dose very or somewhat safe.
That's a big problem for communities since the J&J shot only requires one appointment and is key to boosting coverage. Another issue is the messaging and location of where the shots are being administered. The state's lieutenant governor says deploying more shots into the community by bolstering mobile clinics will go a long way to helping increase immunity.
In Detroit, a community that lacks access and trust to the vaccines is concerned about the potential side effects of the 2nd shot. It's led to a disparity in coverage. Increasing awareness and presence at the local level will bridge those fears.
What else we're watching
- Two men, including the quarterback of Central Michigan University's football team, were shot at a party at the school's off-campus living this weekend.
- Renovations in downtown Detroit are drawing protests from the community over the city's plans to remove homeless people at the Hart Plaza.
- The Ingham County Sheriff is asking the public to sponsor jail inmates so they don't need to return to incarceration.
- Apple has announced plans to invest $430 million into technology infrastructure over the next five years that will create 20,000 jobs in the U.S. A release from the company says it will drive economic benefits in every state.
- A new resolution from Grosse Pointe Schools that seeks to address mental health and alter contact tracing and quarantining rules would revise social distancing restrictions and how long a student has to be at home.
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Daily Forecast
Temperatures will hover between a bit chilly and a little warm at 55 degrees today. But expect the pendulum to swing Tuesday when temperatures climb almost 30 degrees into the 80s.
Oscars 2021: 'Nomadland' wins best picture, Chloé Zhao makes history with best director win
Chloé Zhao’s "Nomadland," a wistful portrait of itinerant lives on open roads across the American West, won best picture Sunday at the 93rd Academy Awards, where the China-born Zhao became the first woman of color to win best director and a historically diverse group of winners took home awards.
In the biggest surprise of a socially distanced Oscar ceremony held during the pandemic, best actor went to Anthony Hopkins for his performance in the dementia drama "The Father." The award had been widely expected to go to Chadwick Boseman for his final performance in "Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom." The night’s last award, it ended the ceremony on a down note, particularly since Hopkins wasn’t in attendance.
Hours later, Hopkins made a belated victory speech from his Welsh homeland and paid tribute to Boseman, who he said was "taken from us far too early."
The "Nomadland" victory, while widely expected, nevertheless capped the extraordinary rise of Zhao, a lyrical filmmaker whose winning film is just her third, and which — with a budget less than $5 million and featuring a cast populated by non-professional actors — ranks as one of the most modest-sized movies to win Hollywood’s top honor. (Zhao’s next film, Marvel’s "Eternals," has a budget approximately 40 times that of "Nomadland.")