ROYAL OAK — Target Sports is taking steps to prevent suicides at its gun range by no longer renting firearms to individuals.
Since 2001, 12 people have walked in alone to the Royal Oak location, 30482 Woodward Ave., rented weapons and shot themselves - five fatally.
Three of the incidents - two suicides and one attempt - happened in the last four months.
Most recently, a man shot himself in the chin about 7 p.m. Jan. 17 and ran out of the business six blocks south of 13 Mile Road. Royal Oak and Berkley police officers searched the area with the Madison Heights police dog. They found the victim with non-life threatening wounds.
On Dec. 12, 2012, a 23-year-old woman was found in the range unresponsive but still breathing with a single gunshot wound to her head. She was taken to Beaumont Hospital, Royal Oak, and later died.
Three months prior, police said a man rented two firearms and asked to test them. He then used both weapons to commit suicide in the gun range. That was Sept. 12, 2012.
“I can’t say why this is happening at Target Sports,” Royal Oak Police Chief Corrigan O’Donohue said. “Other ranges have had similar incidents but not as many. If we had seven attempts since 2001 and three of them happened in the last few months, I don’t know why except anecdotally they seem to happen in clusters.”
February 21, 2013 6:31 AM
