Man Arrested After 5 Shot, 2 Killed in Detroit

DETROIT – A man was arrested Thursday after a series of shootings that left two people dead and three others wounded within a span of 10 minutes.

All the shootings were in a three- to four-block area on the city's west side, Detroit police spokesman James Tate said. The shootings were believed to be random, police said.

Killed were Arthur James Smith, 49, and Othelia Fry, 58, both of Detroit, police spokeswoman Yvette Walker said.

Fry was shot as she sat in a vehicle in front of a day care facility, Tate said. There were no children at the day care at the time, and the shooting didn't appear to be related to the facility, he said.

Smith and a man identified by the Detroit Free Press as Elton Ash, 51, were shot minutes later about a block away. Shortly afterward, Dennis Anderson, 49, was wounded in his backyard and James L. Brown, 50, also was shot, the newspaper reported on its Web site.

The three men were treated at Henry Ford Hospital and released, hospital spokeswoman Synthia Bryant said.

Police arrested the suspect Thursday afternoon at a house about a half-mile from the shootings, The Detroit News reported.

Investigators received a tip from a woman who said the suspect told her he had shot five people in the morning, the newspaper said.

Tate said earlier that investigators believed there were two gunmen, but police told the Detroit Free Press late Thursday that witness accounts may have been wrong and one man may have been responsible.

Messages left for police Thursday night were not immediately answered.

The shootings occurred along or near Linwood Street, a busy, four-lane road that runs through blocks of old homes. The area around the shooting scene is lined with liquor stores, empty lots, a church, gas stations and abandoned buildings.

Police did not know a motive, Tate said.