As a Detroit family grieves the loss of a 3-year-old girl, police are working to sort out details of the senseless shooting that took her life last week, the Huffington Post reports.
Amiracle Williams was killed Thursday after a dispute on Facebook spilled offline and led to a confrontation in front of her family’s Detroit home, police say. The child’s mother, father and 17-year-old sister were injured in the incident, as well as a 22-year-old man who is one of two people police have arrested in connection with the incident so far.
The shooting occurred after a dispute on Facebook ended in a group of young women physically fighting in front of the child’s Detroit home, the Huffington Post reported. Amiracle’s father saw the fight and “felt his daughters may have been in some sort of danger and responded by shooting one person at the scene,” Detroit Police Chief James Craig told the Huffington Post.
After the initial shooting, Craig said a second individual took out a machine gun and began to fire repeatedly, striking Amiracle and her three family members, the report says.
Late Friday, police had two suspects in custody: the alleged second shooter—a 23-year-old man—and the 22-year-old man, the alleged driver of a getaway vehicle, who was shot in the incident. The Huffington Post says the alleged shooter had an outstanding warrant for his arrest on a felony charge in Virginia. At least one of the men also has been involved in local gangs, police said. A TEC-9 machine gun was recovered as part of the police investigation, which continues.
The shooting was “a decision made by a coward, once again, another coward that goes out and engages in senseless violence,” Craig said. “We will continue our focus on eradicating violence, and certainly dismantling these street gangs here in Detroit.”
Dozens gathered Friday for a vigil to honor Amiracle. Her mother attended the event, having just returned home from the hospital, reports WXYZ Detroit. “She was just a joy to me,” she told the news station. “Just seems like I can’t make it without her.”
Read more at the Huffington Post.