Police: 43-year-old Dearborn Heights man shot, killed mother, sister

A Dearborn Heights man shot and killed his mother and sister Saturday afternoon at the Cherry Hill Village Apartments in Dearborn Heights after an altercation escalated, Michigan State Police said.

Police said in a Twitter post detectives are still trying to figure out "why the suspect shot and killed his family members."

Police have not released the names of the suspect or victims. The suspect's mother, 67, and sister, 33, are both from Dearborn Heights. Police found the two woman dead in the apartment building. 

Police said the suspect, 43, was killed after shooting at responding officers and disregarding orders to drop his rifle.

The incident was reported around 2:30 p.m. inside an apartment complex in the 400 block of Yorkshire Boulevard near Cherry Hill and Inkster roads.

Police tweeted that the suspect was shooting an AR-style semi-automatic rifle off his second story balcony overlooking a parking lot.

Dearborn Heights police approached the suspect from a distance and told him to drop the weapon. The suspect shot at police and they ordered him to drop the weapon again, police said.

The suspect then continued firing at the officers and was killed, police said.

A second rifle was later found in the suspect's bedroom along with approximately 30 loaded magazines, police said.

Neighbor Patches MucCullough said he was leaving his apartment and heading to the store with his three children when he saw a neighbor on the back balcony with a rifle.

“Officers came out like a SWAT movie and gave him every chance to put the gun down but he started firing at them and they fired back,” MucCullough said. “He let off at least five or six rounds at the officers and they laid it on him. They didn’t have a choice.”