Silent hand gestures help victims call for help and respond safely
A modest hand gesture designed to signal distress is saving lives and spreading the word through social media.
Editor’s note: This article discusses domestic violence. If you or a loved one is suffering from domestic violence or an abusive relationship, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-SAFE (1-800-799-7233).) Or visit www.thehotline.org. Callers can remain anonymous.
A man opened fire at a family home in suburban Detroit, killing four people, including his parents and brother, before surrendering to police, authorities said.
Livonia Police Chief Tom Goralski said officers were dispatched to a home in Livonia, about 20 miles (32 kilometers) west of Detroit, on a report of multiple shots fired at around 5:35 p.m. local time on June 9. After officers arrived on the scene, Goralski said the suspect came out of the home with “his hands above his head and his fingers clasped.”
“Officers approached him and asked him if he knew where the shots were coming from. The subject responded and stated that he had shot his family in their home,” the police chief said at a June 10 press conference.
Police said the suspect, identified only as a 25-year-old resident of the home, was taken into custody without incident.
Goralski said officers entered the residence and found the suspect’s brother, Tanner Ray Pierce, 22, and Tanner’s girlfriend, Nevaeh Mae Jaslyn Finch, 21, in a bedroom. The suspect’s parents, Sterling Ray Pierce, 58, and Holly Marie Kimball, 53, were found in the backyard.
All victims suffered gunshot wounds. According to police, despite life-saving efforts, all were pronounced dead.
“This incident is confined to a residence and there is no threat to the public,” police said in a news release. “This is a tragic event and our thoughts are with the families and loved ones affected by this incident.”
Police: Suspect had ‘contentious relationship’ with parents
Goralski said police had not visited the residence in previous incidents involving the suspect, but said the suspect had a “contentious relationship” with his parents. The police chief added that investigators are not aware of any documented mental health concerns or criminal history regarding the suspect.
“We’re looking into the motive at this point. All I can say is that there was a controversial relationship between the suspect and his parents. That’s all we can say,” Goralski said. “We don’t know what happened yesterday.”
Goralski said a semi-automatic rifle believed to have been used in the shooting was recovered at the scene. Investigators are still working on a search warrant, but the police chief said they found several other weapons.
Goralski said the investigation is ongoing. Police will forward their findings to the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office for review and determination of charges.
Latest domestically-related mass shootings in the United States
The incident in Livonia is the latest in a series of domestic-related shootings across the United States in recent months.
Over the weekend, Los Angeles police announced they were investigating a murder-suicide in the Canoga Park neighborhood, the Los Angeles Times reported. When officers responded to a report of a shooting on the night of June 7, they discovered a man had shot and killed his 10-year-old twin sons, then killed himself, the Times reported.
The shooting occurred about two weeks after a family of four was found dead of gunshot wounds at a home in North Hills, another neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley region of Los Angeles County, the Times reported. The newspaper reported that authorities believe the 30-year-old mother shot herself in the head on May 27 after fatally shooting her husband and two children.
On June 1, a 52-year-old man killed six members of his family in what appeared to be a domestic dispute in a small eastern Iowa city, according to local police. Police said the suspect later committed suicide when confronted by officers.
In May, Houston police announced they were investigating a murder-suicide after four relatives were found shot to death in their home. Authorities later reported that evidence showed the 52-year-old man shot his wife and two children before shooting himself.
A community in northwestern Louisiana was rocked in April by a mass shooting that left eight children dead. At the time, the Shreveport Police Department announced that the suspected gunman killed seven of his children and injured his wife and another woman.
According to the Johns Hopkins University Gun Violence Prevention Center, domestic violence “is a public health crisis, and given the availability and accessibility of guns in the United States, this violence is often perpetrated with firearms.”
On its website, the center said researchers found that nearly half of murdered women in the United States were killed by a current or former intimate partner. More than half of these incidents involved firearms, the center said.
The center also noted that approximately 68% of mass shootings from 2014 to 2019 involved perpetrators who had killed a family member or intimate partner or had a history of domestic violence.
Contributor: Susan Bromley and Laura Colvin, USA TODAY Network
