By Camille Gazoul, Olivia Lang and Taylor Wouters, all ’15, and Jen Maiorana ’16 | Print Associate Editor, Editor-In-Chief, Staff Writer and Print Page Editor
University-Liggett student Paige Stalker ‘16 died as a result of a gunshot wound to the head Monday night, police said to the Detroit Free Press. Four other teenagers were in the car with her, three of whom were injured.
“We’ll keep them in our thoughts and our prayers during this trying time, and we’ll do all we can to support our students both in the short term and in the long term, too,” Principal Moussa Hamka said. “Our thoughts and our prayers are with the families of the students that were affected.”
Three of the students who were in the vehicle attend South, Madeline Arkison ‘16 said. Of these three, one was released from the hospital and is recovering from a back wound, another is in critical condition after being shot in the back, and the third suffered no physical injuries. The female who was shot in the back drove the car roughly 2.5 miles to Beaumont Hospital in Grosse Pointe.
Demetrius Herndon was the final person in the vehicle. This teen from Seneca, Detroit was not fatally injured in the violence.
“A vehicle pulled in front of them, the driver got out of the passenger side and fired several shots,” Detroit police spokesman Adam Madera said to the Detroit Free Press. About 25 to 30 shots were fired around 9:15 pm on Monday. The police have received conflicting reports on the appearance of the shooter and why the teens were in that part of the neighborhood.
South is preparing a crisis center to be available for community members, Hamka said.
“We’re coordinating a crisis center,” Hamka said. “We’re going to open that up in Cleminson to provide support for students, parents, staff or community members that would like to come in to receive counseling services.”
The community aches as a result of the violence Monday evening, Hamka said. A candlelit vigil was held outside of the Grosse Pointe Woods City Hall on Tuesday evening.
“As you can imagine, we are heartbroken over the death of one of our students, and our thoughts and prayers go out to her family and friends and to the entire Liggett community during this very difficult time,” Michelle Franzen Martin, director of Marketing and Communications at University-Liggett, said to the Detroit Free Press.
We will be updating this developing story as more information becomes available.
