A shooting altercation between two groups of young people at a shopping mall in Dearborn, Michigan, left two people dead and a third injured over what is typically the most violent weekend of the year in the US, police said.

The shooting occurred as the US began celebrating the Fourth of July, historically a holiday weekend that sees higher rates of gun violence across the country. In 2024, the Gun Violence Archive reported more than 500 shootings over Independence Day weekend.

The shooting at Fairlane Town Center on Friday sent mall patrons scrambling, including a person who was hit by a vehicle outside the mall while attempting to flee, said Issa Shahin, the Dearborn police chief.

People believed to be linked to the fight were being questioned at the police station, but no one was immediately taken into custody, he said.

Shahin said the altercation was not a random act: the two groups knew each other and after they came into contact at the mall a fight started that escalated into gunfire. Members of both groups had handguns, he said.

One of the victims died inside Fairlane Town Center and the other died at a nearby hospital. Details on the third person who was shot were not released.

The mall was evacuated after the shooting and police planned to keep it closed while they investigated.

A video posted to social media appeared to show people running from the shopping center after gunshots could be heard.

Fairlane Town Center has more than 125 stores and restaurants, according to its website.

Dearborn is a suburb of Detroit with a population of more than 100,000 people about nine miles west of Detroit.

Tyhrann Howard, Michigan state police specialist lieutenant, said the agency was assisting with the investigation and referred questions to the Dearborn police.

A person who answered the phone at the telephone number for mall security declined comment.

Associated Press contributed reporting

MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) – Minnesota’s top public law office is shutting down a key unit that investigated wrongful convictions, and those who depend on it say the loss is a major blow for justice.

Minnesota Attorney General’s Office ends wrongful conviction reviews

What we know:

The Attorney General’s Office is closing its Conviction Review Unit (CRU), which has been responsible for investigating claims of wrongful conviction.

The move comes after a loss of federal funding that state officials blame on the Trump administration pulling a half-million-dollar grant.

“Current budget constraints do not allow the program’s costs to be absorbed without compromising other core responsibilities,” Attorney General Keith Ellison wrote in a statement to the FOX 9 Investigators. “It is disappointing that our federal government has decided to deprioritize identifying and correcting wrongful convictions.”

Advocates including Marvina Haynes, who fought for her brother Marvin’s release after he spent nearly 20 years in prison for a crime he did not commit, says the news is devastating.

“That really breaks my heart because people really depend on the CRU,” said Haynes. “This work is very important. Families depend on this lifeline, right? It gave people hope.”

The unit screened more than 1,000 cases while fully investigating and issuing findings in four previously closed convictions, including the 2009 case of Edgar Barrientos-Quintana.

Barrientos-Quintana was freed in 2024 after the CRU’s review uncovered a flawed case and a viable alibi.

Hennepin Co. has its own conviction review team

Local perspective:

Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty, who runs her own conviction integrity unit, said the Attorney General’s team has been a valuable partner.

“Mistakes happen, injustices happen, and we need to be humble enough to accept the fact that they do happen and make things right,” explained Moriarty. “They (the CRU) made a report in Barientos-Quintana that we accepted, and he was exonerated. So yes, they have been good partners to us.”

Moriarty said her office will continue to review cases but worries about the broader impact.

“When we have looked at cases, we have obviously had some exonerations, but we have also had cases that we have not recommended relief,” Moriarty said. “And so that should be assurance to the community that when somebody has asked us to take a look at their conviction, we have taken a deep dive into it and we haven’t found anything that would question the integrity of that conviction.”

Innocence Project also lost grant

Dig deeper:

Moriarty and others are concerned that the loss of both the Attorney General’s unit and a separate $600,000 federal grant to the Great North Innocence Project (GNIP) will make it much harder to uncover and correct mistakes in the state’s criminal justice system.

“The idea that people are perhaps in prison, wrongfully convicted, and that they would remain there without anybody reviewing their cases does take away hope, as you said. And that is an injustice,” said Moriarty.

Advocates say the closure leaves a gap for people seeking justice. “Yes, justice will not prevail because now who will be able to actually dive into the case? Even if they weren’t actively working on cases, that unit by itself gave people hope,” lamented Haynes.

Meantime, GNIP officials continue to reach out to donors to help bridge the organization’s ongoing funding gap.

“Conviction review units serve a vital role in ensuring that credible claims of innocence receive careful, independent review and that wrongful convictions are not allowed to stand because of procedural barriers,” GNIP’s Legal Director James Mayer wrote in a statement to the FOX 9 Investigators. “We remain committed to working with prosecutors across Minnesota to identify and correct wrongful convictions, and we hope to see more jurisdictions establish conviction review units in the years ahead.”

Attorney General’s Office budget cuts

What’s next:

Ellison has said he is open to resuming conviction reviews in his office if the necessary funding can be secured. Just last week, however, the office had to cut 17 staff members, including three attorneys, due in part to rising costs.

BLACK, Mo. (KY3) – The Missouri Highway Patrol is investigating the death of a woman at a youth ranch in Reynolds County.

Authorities responded to the Valley Springs Youth Ranch in Black on Wednesday around 3 p.m. They found a 69-year-old female staff member dead. Investigators have not released the victim’s identity.

Authorities detained a juvenile. Investigators say this was an isolated incident.

Investigators say the case is open.

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