Police Investigate Two Shootings Along Detroit Freeways

DETROIT (WWJ) - Police are investigating separate shootings along two Detroit freeways overnight that left one person injured.

The first shooting took place around 2:40 a.m. Thursday along I-94 westbound at Gratiot on the east side, while the second shooting happened around 2:57 a.m. along I-96 westbound at Davison on the west side.

Michigan State Police Lt. Mike Shaw said one person was struck in the I-94 shooting and taken to an area hospital for non-life threatening injuries.

"That driver was struck one time in the leg," he said. "He's already been released from the hospital."

The victim, a man in his late 20s, said he was going to work at Frito-Lay when the shooting happened. He pulled off I-94 and went to a nearby gas station for help.

"He told me he was driving and he heard this noise, it sounded like a rock hit his car but actually it was a gunshot on his leg and when he felt the pain, he actually came down here for me to call the cops," gas station clerk Emod Alomari told WWJ's Charlie Langton.

No one was struck in the I-96 shooting, but at least one vehicle was hit multiple times.

"The driver heard a popping sound and pulled over to the side of the road and noticed bullet holes in the side of the vehicle," said Shaw.

Circumstances behind both shootings remain unclear, and Shaw said they're not exactly getting straight stories from the victims.

"The first two stories that we've gotten is that both of them were actually on the freeway and a vehicle came up there and fired shots at them. The one on 94, the driver describes as a silver Impala. The other one, the driver can't give us a vehicle description," he said. "A lot of times these stories change, especially if there's some type of road rage incident or something like that, where victims are kind of reluctant to say that they may have exchanged some type of pleasantries along the freeway system."

At this point, police do not think the shootings are connected.

"It doesn't seem likely, just for the fact that the locations of both of the incidents and the time period that both of them happened... somebody is going to have to be going kind of pretty quick to make it to those locations," said Shaw. "But it's not something that's not in the back of our minds as we continue through this investigation."

Troopers closed I-94 from approximately 6:30 until 7:58 a.m. but did not locate any evidence. I-96 was closed from approximately 5 to 6:05 a.m. and troopers located two shell casings along with other evidence. Both roads have since reopened to traffic.

The shootings remain under investigation. Anyone who may have witnessed the incidents or has any other information is asked to contact police at 734-287-5000.

For the latest from the roads, stay with WWJ Newsradio 950 during Traffic and Weather on the 8s, 24-hours a day. Check for recent incidents now on the CBS Detroit Traffic Page.