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Neighbors recount mass shooting suspect as defensive, vengeful

8 shot, 1 dead on Detroit's west side
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DETROIT (WXYZ) — A Detroit neighborhood is in shock after a mass shooting sent seven people to the hospital and an eighth person was killed.

Police say the suspect may have been upset over a vehicle blocking his driveway. The shooting happened on Coyle Street near Plymouth.

“It sounded like we was in World War III," a neighbor named Jones described.

His girlfriend, Nicole Hawkins said, “Oh my God. It was like 25 shots. Them the first ones I heard.”

“The second round was 30 (shots)," she recalled.

Police said the man initially fired shots into the air and then went into his home to retrieve another weapon. After that, he opened fire on the SUV and the home across the street.

A man who lives at the home across the street says he doesn’t know the people in the SUV, but he said his loved ones were having a party and about to head to a bar when they came under fire.

Neighbors describe the suspect as a former member of the military who stays to himself but isn't easy to get along with.

“I’ve been having problems with him since I’ve been here, and he told me he was going to jill my whole family for no reason," Hawkins said.

Jones recalled, "Me and him got into it a few times. He always got this anger. I don't know if that's from the military, but he has this anger that if somebody say something to him, he's quick to say what he'll do to somebody."

Police arrested the suspect on scene and quickly.

Chief James White visited the scene in the morning. The department said he plans to give an update tomorrow at 1 p.m.