Man Found Dead In Driveway Of Inkster Home

INKSTER (WWJ) - Police are investigating a homicide after a 49-year-old man was found shot to death in the driveway of a home in Inkster.

The discovery was made Wednesday morning in the 26000 block of Avondale, near John Daly Road just north of Michigan Avenue.

A neighbor, who did not want to be named, told WWJ's Laura Bonnell he awoke to gunfire in the middle of the night.

"It was about 3:30 this morning, I just heard probably like a dozen shots being fired off," he said. "And I was up after that until about 5, 6 o'clock and I thought I'd hear sirens but I didn't hear nothing of the sort."

Michigan State Police Lt. Mike Shaw said officers responded to the scene after receiving a call around 3:30 a.m., but they didn't see anything so they left. He said troopers were called back to the scene around 6:30 a.m. after a neighbor discovered the man's body.

"The area that the shooting was supposedly occurring at was very broad," said Shaw. "Inkster did send units out here, they did search at 3:40 in the morning. In the daylight, it's pretty obvious to see where the victim's laying, but in the middle of the night without the street being lit up or anything like that, there's no way that the officers would have been able to walk through every house and see somebody."

The victim's name has not yet been released.

"We're canvassing the neighborhood, notifying the next of kin," said Shaw. "We're also awaiting a search warrant from the Inkster judge so we can actually go on to the property and search the property and determine what occurred."

Police are advising citizens to avoid the area until further notice.

"We know that in these types of instances that somebody already knows what occurred out here and who the shooter is. Don't be afraid to give us a call, you don't have to give us your name or anything like that. Give us some tips and we'll get this solved," said Shaw.

An investigation is ongoing.

Anyone with information is urged to contact police at 313-563-9850 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-SPEAK-UP.

Stay with WWJ Newsradio 950 and CBSDetroit.com for the latest.