Suspects At Large After Gunning Down Brothers On Detroit's West Side

DETROIT (WWJ) - Detroit police are searching for a pair of suspects who shot and killed two brothers during an overnight home invasion on the west side.

The incident unfolded around 11:30 p.m. Wednesday in the 14000 block of Ashton, along the Southfield Freeway near Schoolcraft Avenue, after a family -- a mother with broken leg, her three sons, a daughter and a family friend -- had returned from grocery shopping.

The brothers had unloaded groceries and packages from their car and were helping their mother inside the home the when they were approached by three suspects, who were dressed in all black with two wearing ski masks.

What happened next remains under investigation, but police say the suspects marched the group back inside the home at gunpoint.

"From what I understand, she said that they robbed her, they did their thing here and then they forced their way in the house," family friend Thomas Anderson told WWJ's Mike Campbell. "I just happened to be in the basement and I'm the one with the CPL."

The group eventually ended up in the fenced-in backyard of the home, where shots were fired. Anderson said he grabbed a gun and fired back at the suspects, who fled the scene.

"Alls I seen is shots going like this, the flare from their gun, and the only thing I could do is just shoot back at them to get them away from our house," he said. "I wish I would have got them."

Two brothers, ages 54 and 47, were shot and taken to a nearby hospital where they both died. The older man was shot in the chest and the younger man was shot in the stomach.

State Police tracking dogs were brought to the area, where one possible suspect was taken into custody near Piedmont and Chalfonte. Two suspects, described only as black males, remain at large.

The investigation and search are ongoing.

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