Detroit police chief speaks out after fatal shooting at Eastern Market
Detroit Police Chief James White speaks to reporters following the fatal shooting at Eastern Market on Sunday, September 15, 2024.
Courtesy of Detroit Police
Richard Malone’s shirt ripped as family members stopped him from running to his cousin, who lay motionless and bleeding on the ground in his blue Barry Sanders jersey from Honolulu.
He thought Rayshawn Bryant, a cousin he grew up with in Detroit, might still be alive and just unable to get up from the floor at Eastern Market, where the family was watching the Detroit Lions game on Sunday. Malone wanted to help, he said, but no one could get to Bryant while emergency responders tried to save his life.
“That’s when I freaked out,” said Malone, 42, of Detroit. “From kids to adults … just to see him like that. I don’t want to see him like that. I’ve never seen anything like that.”
Bryant was pronounced dead at the scene. He had celebrated his 40th birthday last month. His sister, Ming Cora Little, told the Free Press that her brother was also named Rayshawn Palmer because that was the name of his adoptive family.
More: Second person dies after shooting at Detroit Lions tailgate in Eastern Market
Malone said he and his family had been finishing up the Detroit Lions’ tailgate party, which they host at nearly every home game, less than five minutes earlier. A few feet away from their tailgate party at Shed 6, two men were arguing and yelling at each other, Malone said. He wasn’t sure why.
Then the two men raised their hands in preparation for a fight, Malone said, adding that Bryant tried to step in and calm the men down. Malone heard a gunshot. Everyone around them started running.
Detroit police confirmed that two people were shot. Bryant was pronounced dead at the scene, and another man was in critical condition but later died. The other victim had not been identified by authorities as of Monday evening.
Detroit Police Chief James White said officers arrested a man from Oak Park, a suburb of Oakland County, on Sunday. He is in his 30s and has a gun license. He said a fight between two men escalated around 4:30 p.m. when the suspect pulled out a gun and fired at least two shots. Police did not provide further details Monday.
Malone said his cousin tried to break up the fight and said he did not know why the other two men were fighting.
After hearing the gunshot, Malone said he saw a man who was not his cousin “drop immediately.” Malone ducked and crawled toward his family’s RV for shelter. He heard people start calling Bryant’s name.
He didn’t believe Bryant was shot. But when he saw his cousin’s body:
“It messed me up,” he said.
“They took a person from all of us. For no reason,” Malone said, wishing he could say that to the man accused of killing his cousin.
“Calm down. Be a leader. You could have done that.”
Nearby officers directing traffic from the Lions game responded to the shooting, arrested the suspect and seized two weapons, White said.
The Wayne County District Attorney’s Office did not announce any charges against the suspect as of Monday evening.
Bryant loved the whole city, says cousin
Malone said his family has been checking on each other and making sure no one is alone, but they are all in shock.
Bryant was a father, Malone said. And the East Side native was loved by many – “From the East Side to the West.”
Another of Bryant’s cousins, Damieone Stafford, said his social media was flooded with tributes to Bryant from loved ones, but also with shock and despair.
Bryant was authentic, someone you could rely on and feel safe around, someone who “stayed real,” Malone said. Stafford said Bryant wasn’t the type to get into a fight and he was rarely angry.
“It always happens to the good guys, man,” said Stafford, 49, of Detroit.
More: Detroit Lions head coach Dan Campbell calls Eastern Market shooting “tragic”
Malone said Bryant exuded a positive attitude and always loved to have fun, whether it was hosting parties or having a barbecue with the Lions, who were “without a doubt” Bryant’s favorite team.
And he was a great dancer, exceptionally skilled at the Detroit street dance known as the “jit.”
“There was no one better than him,” Malone said. And no matter where he went, “he challenged everyone to the dance.”
But most of all, Malone said, his cousin was popular because he always wanted to do something positive for others and the city of Detroit.
“That was his purpose in life,” he said. And that is how he will be remembered.
Andrea Sahouri covers criminal justice for the Detroit Free Press. Reach her at [email protected].
