Suspect arrested in killing of 2 at Detroit-area seniors complex

Police wheel away the suspected gunman on a gurney

April 18, 2000
Web posted at: 4:25 p.m. EDT (2025 GMT)

In this story: Son: Suspected gunman accused of sexual harassment 'He came in there looking for us' RELATED STORIES, SITES

LINCOLN PARK, Michigan (CNN) -- Police captured a man suspected of shooting two women to death and wounding at least one other Tuesday at a senior citizens high-rise apartment complex in suburban Detroit.

Authorities said officers kicked in an apartment door on the top floor of the 14-story building and arrested the man, who offered no resistance.

MESSAGE BOARD Detroit area shootings

The man opened fire after being called to a meeting to discuss other residents' complaints about his language, authorities and eyewitnesses said. Shots were heard coming from the upper floors of the high-rise. One witness told CNN affiliate WXYZ that he heard about 15 shots.

For three hours after the shooting, the suspect remained at large as tenants were told to stay in their apartments and SWAT teams went through the building. Police cordoned off an area around the building, which houses 114 people.

A witness describes the scene 107K/10 sec. AIFF or WAV sound

Son: Suspected gunman accused of sexual harassment

The suspect's son, Kenneth Miller Jr. of Ferndale, Michigan, and a step-son, John Lowe of Garden City, Michigan, identified the gunman as their father. They told CNN they wanted to try to talk him out of the building but complained that local police were not cooperating with them.

The sons said that Kenneth Miller Sr., 56, had been treated recently for depression and also was taking pain killers because of a bad back.

"Alls I know is that he was wrongly accused of some sort of sexual harassment, and that they were going to evict him from it, and that 18 other people signed a petition saying that he was very helpful there and a very nice guy, and that it was only a few who were trying to get him out of there, and I guess he just lost it," said Kenneth Miller Jr.

He also said his father, a retired country music singer and guitar player, had lived at the Lincoln Park Towers for about a year and had no history of violence.

Among the wounded is a woman undergoing surgery in critical condition at Henry Ford Wyandotte Hospital, said spokesman John Lewandowski. He said the woman suffered multiple gunshot wounds.

'He came in there looking for us'

Lincoln Park Towers is a senior citizens high-rise in suburban Detroit

Phyllis McLenon, deputy director of the Lincoln Park Housing Commission, said the gunman was armed with "a .22-(caliber) rifle and several other guns."

McLenon told CNN affiliate WDIV that apartment officials had summoned the man to a meeting in a building adjacent to the high-rise after other residents complained of inappropriate remarks.

"He was very upset ... with some of the ladies who were complaining about him," McLenon said.

McLenon said the man left the meeting and was gone for about 10 minutes -- when the building's maintenance man reported on a two-way radio that the man was coming back shooting.

He shot one woman in the building office and another in the doorway, McLenon said. Some people ran to the bathroom or scrambled under a desk to hide. "He came in there looking for us," she said.

During the meeting before the shooting, McLenon said, the man "was very dissatisfied and making threats. ... he kept saying he wouldn't have this character assassination and that he would take care of it."

Thomas Baize, president of the Lincoln Park Housing Commission, said one of the dead was a member of his commission.

As he broke down in tears, Baize said the woman often came to the facility to bring cake and cookies to the residents. "She literally gave her life to the commission," he said.

At nearby Raupp Elementary School, officials closed the school building and said children would not be allowed to leave until the incident was over.

Hospitalized fireman faces murder charges in Memphis shootings
March 10, 2000
Third victim of Pittsburgh-area shootings dies; hate crime charged
March 2, 2000

Detroit
Detroit Police Department

Note: Pages will open in a new browser window

External sites are not endorsed by CNN Interactive.