STERLING HEIGHTS (WWJ) -- Sterling Heights Police have now confirmed that the suspect in Friday afternoon's double shooting was found in a nearby area with a fatal gunshot wound that appears to be self-inflicted.
According to Sterling Heights Police, the first 911 call came in at 1:15 p.m. after two women were shot and wounded outside the old, abandoned Ruby Tuesday restaurant on Van Dyke Ave., north of 15 Mile Road.
The suspect then ran off on foot.
Police initially told WWJ Newsradio 950 that the incident happened outside Chipotle, but police later said it appears to have been "isolated to the immediate area of the Ruby Tuesday parking lot," which is a few doors down.
Officers tended to the injured women on the scene before they were taken by EMS to a local hospital.
Both were reported to be in stable condition with gunshot wounds that were not believed to be life-threatening.
Sterling Heights Police Chief Dale Dwojakowski said this was not a random shooting, and that investigators believe the suspect knew the victims.
He said the women had arranged to meet the shooter in the parking lot, although it's not yet clear why.
The now-deceased suspect's identity has not been given out, but he was described as a Black male, around 22 years old, and 5'10" tall, with facial hair. He was believed to be wearing a beanie hat, beige jacket, sweatpants and black Crocs-style shoes.
Late into the afternoon, officers were canvassing the area looking for the shooter.
WWJ's Jon Hewett reported that Chief Dwojakowski did not believe the suspect was a danger to the public at large but had warned people to be on the lookout for him.
How Sterling Heights PD eventually learned of the shooter's location is unclear at this time.
Nearby schools in the Utica Community and Warren Consolidated district were placed on a temporary lockdown as a precaution, as were workers at an area Stellantis plant. Those lockdowns have since been lifted.
Anyone with information about the suspect or the shooting is asked to call the Sterling Heights Investigations Bureau at 586-446-2825.
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