COMMERCE TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WXYZ) — A Howell man was shot and killed outside of the Prime 7 restaurant in Commerce Township on Sunday night.
According to the Oakland County Sheriff's Office, deputies were called to the restaurant around 9:38 p.m. on a report of a shooting.
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Deputies located the victim, 44-year-old Francesk Shkambi, lying on a patio outside the restaurant and began life-saving efforts. Known as Franco, Shkambi was the manager of the restaurant.
The owner of Prime 7, Frank Gjuraj, is Shkambi's brother-in-law. Gjuraj says Shkambi was called outside to talk by a man, and that's when he was shot. He died at a local hospital.
"I can't believe this happened. Why? How? For what?" Gjuraj said.
When Gjuraj was called about the shooting, he thought it was a bad joke.
"I just wish I could talk to Franco one more time, tell him how much we all appreciated him," says Alex Crawford, who works at Prime 7.
The sheriff's office then began investigating and searching for the suspect. According to police, the suspect, a 65-year-old Farmington Hills man, turned himself in about 20 minutes after the shooting.
Detectives also recovered the handgun, which had been reported stolen.
"Our fugitive apprehension team took custody of the suspect without incident, transferred him to sheriff's office where he was interview by SIU and he confessed that she shot the individual," Sheriff Michael Bouchard said. "They knew each other for a period of time and it escalated into a disagreement and in that disagreement, the suspect shot the victim."
Shkambi received a sentence commutation from President Joe Biden in December 2024. He had been convicted of conspiracy to possess and distribute cocaine, heroin, marijuana, and ecstasy in 2013.
When asked if he had a message for the suspect, Gjuraj offered this: “I would say I hope God forgives him. What he did was the worst thing you can do. I hope god forgive him.”
