On Father’s Day, one Detroit man was determined not to ruin his celebratory day after a would-be shooter’s attempt on his life was thwarted when his gun jammed at a west side gas station.
According to WXYZ- Channel 7 News, the 25-year-old unidentified man ran inside a Valero gas station to hide while holding his sleeping seven-month-old baby.
The gas station clerk, Adam Albamarki, told the news station that the father had run into the business shortly before an unidentified man in khaki shorts and a bucket hat with a white tank top entered the location brandishing a handgun.
“He was trying to hide somewhere,” Albarmaki said.
Surveillance video revealed the gunman’s weapon jammed as he tried to shoot the runner, allowing the father to push the man outside the gas station and lock the door. The baby remained asleep through the chaos.
“It’s difficult to watch. I mean, it’s just no regard for human life or for the life of a child,” said Detroit Police Commander Michael Chambers said on camera.
Following being pushed outside, the man ran away. Chambers revealed that the two men had had an altercation of some sort a few blocks away from the Valero.
WXYZ also reported that the 25-year-old father had sustained an injury to his right arm. A 911 operator revealed that he had called to say he had been stabbed.
On Monday, Detroit police had taken a possible suspect into custody near the Valero where the botched shooting attempt happened. After obtaining a search warrant, police executed a search at a west side home to find the gun.
The suspected gunman was identified as Euric Butler. Butler was charged with brandishing a weapon, felony firearm and felonious assault. Police still need help definitively identifying the man in the surveillance video.
Detectives can be reached at 313-596-5210 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-SPEAK-UP.
