The Ypsilanti Police Department is still looking for a suspect they believe is responsible for shooting three individuals following a drug transaction that went awry yesterday near Eagle Nest Apartments.
Police are attempting to locate 24-year-old Ypsilanti resident Quenton Martez Dodson, who, at this time, is still at large.
According to information police received, they believe the shooting stemmed from a narcotics transaction involving Oxycotin.
Officers were dispatched Friday evening to the 300 block of Jarvis following a report of a subject with a gunshot wound to the stomach around 7:15 p.m.
Eastern Michigan University student Andre White was the one who called 911 after he and his stepfather saw part of the ordeal unfold.
White said he and his stepfather were pulling up along Jarvis Street on his way to Downing Hall when he saw two men running out of the parking lot of Eagle Nest Apartments.
White said one of the men was yelling he had been shot. White and his stepfather pulled over and let the man lay down in the back seat of their vehicle.
“It was pretty scary,” White said. “I wasn’t sure if he was going to die in the back of the car.”
After White called 911, police arrived quickly on the scene. When the ambulance arrived, they took the victim out of White’s car and put him on a stretcher.
Police said when they arrived the 20-year-old victim said that two of his friends were also shot.
Officers located the other two victims in the immediate area, each suffering a single gunshot wound. One 18-year-old was shot in the hip and another 18-year-old was shot in the chest. All victims were rushed off to the local hospital with one uninjured involved subject left behind to provide information to police. At this time, all victims are in stable condition.
Bob Heighes, interim EMU Police Chief, said none of the victims or individuals involved are EMU students or faculty members. Heighes also said the gunman is not on campus.
Canton resident Lindsey Knolls was visiting a friend in the area when the investigation began to unfold.
“We didn’t know what was going on but we knew it was serious,” Knolls said. “My friend received a lot of texts from the university so we knew to stay inside of her apartment until it blew over.”
The university sent out a timely warning and Rave Alert text messages to the university community.
“I’m glad EMU had something like that set up because we were literally like two steps away from where the shooting happened,” Knolls said.
Dodson is described as 5-foot-8 and 160 lbs. He was last seen wearing a baggy shirt, blue jeans and a red baseball cap.
Police are advising individuals with knowledge regarding this case to contact Detective Sergeant Troy Fulton at 734-482-9878 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-SPEAKUP.
