DETROIT (WXYZ) — Detroit police shut down a Mobil gas station near McNichols Road and the Lodge Freeway on Monday after a clerk allegedly shot at a suspected shoplifter. A similar incident happened at the gas station in 2023.

“Earlier last week, we had an incident where the clerk left behind the glass for what appears to be suspecting someone of shoplifting, started shooting indiscriminately outside here on the public streets putting this community in danger. That is not OK,” Deputy Chief Franklin Hayes said. “We demand accountability. There is a responsibility for business owners as well as their staff to treat the community with dignity and second of all, firearms and shooting at someone on an open street like this, that is not OK.”

The incident happened on Wednesday, Dec. 11.

The family of 38-year-old Tony Williams says because of the shooting, he was fleeing the clerk and jumped onto the Lodge to escape. He died from his injuries.

“It didn’t have to happen at all,” said Tuan Williams, the brother of the Tony.

The family called for the gas station to be shut down Sunday, chanting “shut it down” inside after holding a vigil.

“We wanted justice to be serve and justice is being served. I’m thankful for that,” Tuan Williams said.

Hayes was joined by council members, members of the Board of Police of Commissioners and community violence intervention partners. They hope the closure of the business sets a tone across the city.

“At this point, we consider this business very dangerous,” Hayes said.

It’s not the first time the gas station has been shut down.

It was shut down in 2023 for operating without a license after a triple shooting that claimed the life of a man and injured two others. A clerk locked the doors and the victims were locked inside as he argued over a theft police say totaled about $3.

“We are committed to making sure that this does not happen again,” Hayes said.

Related video: Court throws out manslaughter charge against clerk in Detroit gas station shooting

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Police say they are looking at video evidence and still investigating the cause of Tony Williams’ death.

“It’s gonna be a major part of this healing process. We’re gonna take it one step at a time, one day at a time, stay strong as possible. I’m thankful justice is being served. One step and we’re going to continue to stand moving forward,” said Tuan Williams.

Free Press sports writer Dave Birkett highlights the best and worst performances of the Lions’ 48-42 loss to the Buffalo Bills on Sunday at Ford Field.

The Lions (12-2) lost for the first time in exactly three months — when they also lost at home to Tampa Bay, 20-16, in Week 2 on Sept. 15 — and had their franchise-record 11-game win streak snapped. The Lions will have to wait a week to get a second shot at setting the franchise single-season wins record when they visit division rival Chicago Bears in Week 16.

Lions-Bills winners

Bills QB Josh Allen

Allen was phenomenal Sunday, passing for 362 yards and two touchdowns and running for two more scores. He has five rushing and five passing touchdowns with zero turnovers in the Bills’ past two games and made a handful of improbable throws after extending plays with his legs.

With his performance, Allen cemented his place as this year’s probable MVP.

“Josh Allen just doing Josh Allen things, man,” Lions cornerback Amik Robertson said. “I don’t think they got any standout dog rec(eiver). They didn’t do nothing — for me they didn’t do nothing special, we just didn’t play Lions football today, man, but we’re going to be all right”

Lions S Brian Branch

Branch was one of the few bright spots on a defense that gave up its most points since Week 4 of the 2022 season.

The second-year safety had 15 tackles, two for loss, and a pass breakup. He had a TFL on a first-and-10 play in the third quarter that helped force the Bills’ only punt of the game and a pass breakup in the end zone that forced the Bills to settle for a short field goal they missed late in the second quarter.

The Lions defense has been decimated by injury and is hemorrhaging talent in the front seven, but they still have two of the best safeties in football in Branch and Kerby Joseph.

MORE BAD NEWS: Lions RB David Montgomery knee injury update

Lions-Bills losers

Lions OL

The Lions have one of the best rushing offenses in the NFL, but couldn’t run the ball a lick Sunday — 48 yards on 15 carries — and that’s part of why they found themselves in a big early hole. They went 0 yards, 1 yard, minus-2 yards on their first three carries and gave up two sacks in their first six pass attempts.

While the failures were a collective effort, Frank Ragnow (two holding penalties) and Graham Glasgow (a face mask) had especially rough days on the interior trying to block Bills defensive tackle Ed Oliver (one sack, three QB hits).

The Lions still rallied for 42 points, so the line wasn’t all bad. But one of the league’s best groups hasn’t been its sharpest in a few weeks and that’s not what this team needs heading into the home stretch.

Lions’ Super Bowl 2025 chances

The Lions are still one of the best teams in the NFL, but it’s indisputable their Super Bowl 59 chances took another hit (or four) with injuries Sunday.

Already down defensive starters Aidan Hutchinson, Marcus Davenport, Derrick Barnes and Alex Anzalone, the Lions lost two more defensive starters to major injury Sunday in Alim McNeill and Carlton Davis, gunner/cornerback Khalil Dorsey to a broken leg and running back David Montgomery to an MCL injury.

As good as they’ve been, the Lions are starting to run out of capable bodies, especially on defense. They could lose all four of the players who got injured Sunday for the remainder of the season, and good teams like the Bills and good quarterbacks like Allen are more than capable of exploiting their holes.

DAVE BIRKETT: Campbell’s onside kick was fine, the defense was not: 5 final thoughts on Lions-Bills

On Sunday, the Lions’ decimated linebacking corps struggled to get off blocks and cover Buffalo’s running backs and tight ends in the pass game. Anzalone should return soon, but it might not be enough to save the league’s most injury-ravaged defense.

Dave Birkett is the author of the new book, “Detroit Lions: An Illustrated Timeline.” Order your copy here. Contact him at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Bluesky, X and Instagram at @davebirkett.

No, Jared Goff. The sky is not falling on the Detroit Lions. At least not yet. 

The Lions had their NFL-best 11-game winning streak snapped by the Buffalo Bills and electric quarterback Josh Allen in a classic shootout at Ford Field on Sunday. For all the firepower the Lions have as the NFL’s most prolific offense in putting up points, they met their match and couldn’t keep up in the NFL’s highest-scoring game of the season. 

Bills 48. Lions 42. 

Momentum halted. Balloon popped. Gasket blown. 

Yet all it will take for the Lions (12-2) to hang onto the No. 1 seed, earn a first-round bye and seize home-field advantage for the NFC playoffs is another streak – as in winning their final three games. With that, the sky might still be Honolulu Blue. 

“I’m sure there will be a ton of stuff written about the sky falling,” Goff said after Detroit’s first loss since Week 2. “We had won how many in a row. It sucks to lose. We would have loved to win every game out, all the way through the Super Bowl. I hope we can look back on this one as a good learning lesson for us and move on.” 

It would have been totally understandable if Goff went home and immediately packed his throwing arm in ice. The ninth-year pro threw a season-high 59 times. Against a Bills secondary without three injured starters, Goff also hit season highs for yards (494) and touchdown passes (5). 

But this came in a game when the Lions logged just 15 rushes and fell into an early hole because the Bills (11-3) started hot by scoring touchdowns on their first three drives. 

Did somebody mention a lesson?

Well, take your pick.

The last time the Lions lost, against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Goff threw 55 times. So, no, that is not the desired formula. Yet Detroit’s 59-15 pass-run ratio against the Bills, which can be easily skewed when trying to rally from huge deficits, wasn’t the imbalance that should concern the Lions the most. 

They passed because they had to. And they had to because the battered defense – which lost three more players on Sunday – was so overmatched. 

For weeks, Detroit’s defense has been so short-handed. Its best player, defensive end Aidan Hutchinson, suffered a broken tibia and fibula in mid-October. Defensive end Marcus Davenport (triceps) and linebacker Alex Anzalone (broken arm) have missed much of the season, too.  

Yet with defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn creatively crafting schemes to cover for the setbacks – Detroit entered the matchup ranked third in blitz rate (32.2%), according to Pro Football Reference – the Lions kept on winning. 

Then came Sunday, when on top of being unable to contain Allen (the third quarterback in the past 30 years to pass for at least 250 yards with two rushing TDs in the first half), more losses were piled on with injuries. 

Cornerback Khalil Dorsey suffered a gruesome leg injury that coach Dan Campbell said was similar to Hutchinson’s and ends his season. Campbell isn’t sure about the severity of the others, but he’s bracing himself. Defensive tackle Alim McNeill suffered a knee injury. Veteran cornerback Carlton Davis III has an injured jaw. 

“Know more tomorrow,” Campbell said. “I don’t feel good about either of those guys.” 

Still, as you’d expect from him, the coach isn’t hiding behind the injuries. 

“No excuses,” Campbell said, courageously. 

Sure, the NFL is a war of attrition. Every team in the league is dealing with injuries. Yet Detroit’s defense has had more than its share. 

No, it’s not the first unit to be shredded by Allen, the MVP front-runner who spread the football around to nine targets in passing for 362 yards on Sunday and was never sacked. If he wasn’t converting on throws after rolling out of the pocket to extend plays, he was lethal with his legs. Again. Designed sweeps. Improvised scrambles. Misdirection power runs. 

Yet it wasn’t just Allen that the defense couldn’t contain as Buffalo rushed for 197 yards. James Cook (14 rushes, 105 yards) and Allen combined to average 6.9 yards per carry. It’s no wonder that Buffalo balanced its attack with 34 rushing attempts and 34 passes. 

In any event, the defense’s struggles illuminated the enormous pressure on Goff’s unit. After trailing by 21 points early in the third quarter, the Lions trimmed the deficit to 10 points and then to the final six-point margin. But that was more a reflection of grit and resilience than it was an indication that they would seize control of the game. 

And it underscored the reality of a challenge that will escalate when the competition stiffens in January. Balance wins in the playoffs. Complementary football matters. When the defense gets a stop, the offense converts it into points. Or so goes the idea. 

Defense wins championships? Well, until further notice Detroit, averaging an NFL-high 32.8 points per game, needs to be carried by an offense that makes the other teams play catch-up. The Lions have arguably the NFL’s best offensive line and a potent 1-2 running back duo with David Montgomery and Jahmyr Gibbs. Goff has receiving targets galore, led by Amon-Ra St. Brown, complemented by Sam LaPorta, Jameson Williams and Tim Patrick.  

And with all those weapons comes a formula with a tight script. Failing a litmus test against Buffalo wasn’t the worst outcome. Detroit still holds the No. 1 seed. Yet the key question was amplified, given the state of an injury-battered defense that can’t be counted on for stops. 

Of course, Campbell, known for his aggressive game management decisions, pointed to something else that had nothing to do with the defense being short-handed. He grumbled about the intensity. As pesky as the Lions were in the fourth quarter, they had to play catch-up for the entire game. Not easy with that defense. 

The coach blamed himself for not having his team playing with urgency from the start. It was the proverbial team punched in the mouth, dazed as it processed what hit it. 

The Bills won’t be the only team capable of inflicting such pain if the Lions, who advanced to an NFC title game meltdown last season, hope to beat the best competition and take it a couple of steps further this time around. 

Lesson? 

“Maybe it’s a good wake-up call for us and a nice little recalibration for us,” Goff said. 

Either that or a reality check. The formula is a bit out of whack. 

“Now what are we going to do about it?” Campbell said. “We won’t sit there and feel sorry for ourselves.” 

After all, the sky isn’t falling. At least not yet.