Detroit, MI
Detroit’s Sloppy Chops restaurateur Mike Brown fatally shot, 2 injured
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Detroit restaurateur and nightlife mainstay Michael “Mike B.” Brown was fatally shot early Saturday morning on the city’s west side, a violent incident that also left two other people injured and sent shockwaves through Detroit’s hospitality and entertainment communities.
According to Detroit police, the shooting occurred outside Suite 100, a cocktail bar on Schaefer Highway near Puritan Avenue. Investigators are urging anyone with information to come forward. As of Sunday afternoon, authorities had not announced any suspects or arrests.
“At approximately 4:30 a.m., Saturday, there was a triple shooting that occurred at 15789 Schaefer,” Detroit Police Department (DPD) media relations manager Jasmin Barmore wrote in an official statement Sunday afternoon. “Two of the vicims were found in front of the location and the third across the street from the location. Unfortunately, the victim found across the street from the location, Mikey Brown, succumbed to his injuries.
“The Detroit Police Department extends their condolences to the family and is asking the community for assistance with this incident. Anyone with information about this incident is asked to please contact DPD’s homicide unit or, they can submit an anonymous tip through Crime Stoppers or Detroit Rewards TV.”
Brown, 52, had spent decades building a name for himself across Detroit’s club and restaurant circuits, evolving from party promoter to business owner and, in recent years, a culinary entrepreneur with expanding ambitions. His death comes at a moment when he had been working to grow his “Sloppy” restaurant brand – a move that aligned with the rise of new Black-owned establishments reshaping the city’s dining landscape.
His first major restaurant venture, Sloppy Chops, opened in 2020 on West McNichols just off the Lodge Freeway. The steakhouse featured high-end cuts like ribeyes and tomahawks, but it quickly drew wide attention for its low-cost lamb chop specials – a dish with a fervent local following and long-standing ties to the city’s food culture.
A year later, Brown launched Sloppy Crab, later renamed the Crab Sports Bar, on East Jefferson Avenue near the Renaissance Center. The seafood spot mixed Detroiters’ love for crab dishes with the energetic, nightlife-forward atmosphere Brown had refined during his years in the entertainment scene. Occasional cover charges, signature strong cocktails and celebrity drop-ins helped make the venue one of downtown’s most animated destinations, placing it alongside longstanding nightlife pillars such as Floods Bar & Grille and Sweetwater Tavern.
Both restaurants emerged during a period when Detroiters were increasingly vocal about who new development served. Sloppy Crab’s proximity to the riverfront offered an answer to residents who wondered where Black diners fit into the city’s transforming downtown, while Sloppy Chops demonstrated that restaurants with the energy and polish of downtown destinations could thrive in the neighborhoods as well.
As of Sunday afternoon, more than 1,000 comments expressing sadness and shock had flooded a pinned post on Brown’s Instagram page, along with a number of posts on his Facebook profile.
On her own page, Darralynn Hutson, an award-winning journalist, author, documentarian and media strategist who has provided content to a host of media outlets including the Detroit Free Press, shared photos of herself with Brown.
“I had the opportunity to interview Mike a few years ago for a feature in Food & Wine and I remember how reluctant he was about sitting down to talk,” Hutson recalled. “Interviews weren’t his thing – he was much more comfortable building than explaining. I had to call him more than 20 times to set up the interview. He didn’t care about Food & Wine. But once we ate and got into conversation, what came out was his commitment to creating something for his Detroit.”
Brown’s influence stretched far beyond his menus. His establishments became recognizable gathering places, and his presence – familiar from downtown corridors to Dexter Avenue – made him a significant cultural figure in Detroit’s nightlife and, later, its dining renaissance.
His death leaves both industries mourning a personality whose ambitions were still growing, and whose imprint on the city’s social fabric remains unmistakable.
In the lead-up to the 2026 NFL Draft, NBC Sports’ Chris Simms gave his one and only prediction of who he believes will be selected in the first round on April 23, including where the Detroit Lions go after at the No. 17 overall pick.
Along with several draft boards and experts, the general consensus is that the Lions will prioritize an offensive tackle with their lone first-round pick, given the dire need to replace now-released Taylor Decker at the left tackle position next season.
In his April 20 prediction posted on X, Simms has the Lions addressing that need by selecting 6-foot-7, 352-pound Alabama offensive tackle Kadyn Proctor at their No. 17 overall draft position.
While there are some mock drafts that predict the Lions trading up to grab their desired draft target, the franchise certainly would not be opposed to Proctor, who is ranked as the No. 2 overall offensive tackle by NFL.com, perfectly falling to them at the No. 17 position.
If Detroit can land Proctor, it would likely be viewed as another successful first-round selection by general manager Brad Holmes and an excellent way to kick off the NFL Draft weekend in the Steel City.
For more Lions coverage, follow us on X, @TheLionsWire, and give our Facebook page a like. Follow Scout on X: @SpringgateNews
DETROIT (WXYZ) — Michigan has some of the greatest natural resources in the country, and those working to protect them met Tuesday for an annual conference.
The fourth annual MI Healthy Climate Conference happened at Huntington Place in Detroit. I had a chance to see some of the innovative ways they are working to protect our environment.
Watch Glenda Lewis’ video report below:
4th annual MI Healthy Climate Conference held in Detroit
“One thing that brings Michiganders together is understanding the beauty and the importance of the environment around us,” said Jeff Johnston with the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy.
In attendance for the event were 700 speakers and about 50 speakers who are passionate about preserving what’s most precious to the state of Michigan.
“We’re right here on the beautiful Detroit Riverfront, part of the Great Lakes system. We’ve got 3,200 miles of coastline in Michigan on the Great Lakes, 11,000 rivers. I’ve got all these amazing numbers that talk about just how important our relationship with the natural world is,” Johnston said. “To engage in climate action, to mitigate the problems of greenhouse gases and fossil fuels that endanger that environment, endanger our livelihoods and our lives is just some of the most important work we can be doing.”
WXYZ
The conference focuses on green funding and a strong future.
“I worked on a youth magazine to engage young people in conservation,” said Jenny Kalejs, a MI Health Climate fellow in the Upper Peninsula. “So, we do land stewardship protection of ecologically sensitive lands, organizing community partners, so we can better collaborate.”
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Michael Goldman Brown Jr. is an MI Health Climate fellow in Detroit.
“I’m sited at Transportation Riders United right here in Detroit, and I’m working on expanding and advocating for better transit here in Detroit but also the entire state of Michigan,” MI Health Climate fellow Michael Goldman Brown Jr. said.
We caught up with a couple of the more than two dozen people working as fellows with a number of nonprofit organizations and green-focused businesses and municipalities to help create an air of change.
“About a third of pollution comes from transportation, from cars and trucks and planes and everybody getting where they need to go,” said Megan Ownens, the director and Transportation Riders United. “So that’s why we at Transportation United are part of this. We want to make sure people have options other than their car.”
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Executive director of Community 2 Me Network Shawna Forbes Henry wants to protect Detroit’s footprint.
“Detroit is an area that is heavily impacted by various climate changes and emergencies, so we are here to ensure that our residents have the training that they need, have the economic resources that they need and the have the ability to feed that pipeline for employment,” Henry said.
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer spoke to all the conference attendees by video, announcing a $1.8 million grant competition for industrial decarbonization, where applicants will come up with cost effective ways to reduce greenhouse emissions.
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