Ethiopian Review

Detroit — George Warren and his mother were tooling around the city’s east side this morning looking to find their minivan after discovering it stolen earlier today.

They filed a police report after Warren’s mother heard the van being stolen about 4 a.m. today, Warren said. They decided to drive through streets near their Meldrum Street home to see if the thief had dumped the green Plymouth Voyager.

Warren said they were drawn to Beaufait near Kercheval because they saw police lights flashing. Then his mother said “Damn that’s my van,” as they saw it parked in the street.

A man was fatally shot in the van, Detroit police said. Warren said officers told him the man had been shot in the head and was in his 20s. Police were unsure of the dead man’s identity, Warren said.

The van was found about 5:30 a.m. today in front of a loading dock at the Gleaners Community Food Bank of Metro Detroit on Beaufait by a food bank employee. The food bank has no connection to the slaying other than that the shooting happened near it, police said.

The driver’s side window of the van was broken, but there was no glass on the street. A black baseball cap was in the street near the van.

Police told Warren that the van was running when it was discovered and that it was almost out of gas. He said police initially thought he may have been the dead man in the van.

“Luckily, it wasn’t me,” Warren said.

Investigators are interviewing early morning Gleaners staff and reviewing security camera tape for clues, said Gleaners senior vice president Gerald F. Brisson.

Gleaners remains open during the investigation, he said.

“It shakes you up when this kind of thing happens,” Brisson said. “We’ve had very few incidents here over the years.”

By Tom Greenwood and Santiago Esparza | detnews