Madison Heights

Husband fires shot at wife’s boyfriend, kills himself

By Andy Kozlowski
C & G Staff Writer

MADISON HEIGHTS — Tragedy befell a mobile home community recently when a man shot at his wife’s boyfriend and ultimately killed himself.

The incident occurred around 12:23 a.m. Feb. 3 in the 25000 block of Dequindre.

Police responded to a report of a shooting with a man down. When officers showed up at the scene, they found two people gathered around an individual lying on the ground, trying to revive him.

It wasn’t until a bit later that the individual was identified as James Richardson, 31, of Warren. He was pronounced dead after being transported to St. John Oakland Hospital in Madison Heights.

Apparently Richardson had parted ways with his wife, who lived at the location with her boyfriend. When Richardson called her, he heard the boyfriend talking in the background, which allegedly upset Richardson.

While driving to the woman’s mobile home in his white 2006 Pontiac G6, Richardson reportedly informed a friend on the phone that he had a gun on his person, and that he was going to use it against his wife’s new boyfriend.

Alarmed by this, the friend, a 32-year-old Warren resident, rushed out to intervene. He arrived mere minutes before Richardson showed up.

When Richardson got there, he stepped out of his vehicle and brandished his firearm, a .40-caliber Smith & Wesson handgun. He reportedly took a shot at the 29-year-old boyfriend, who had stepped out in front of the location.

“He didn’t really say a whole lot; he just stepped out of the car, racked a round and fired a shot,” said Madison Heights Police Lt. Robert Anderson.

Richardson reportedly fired a shot but didn’t hit anyone, at which point his friend and wife closed in on him.

Richardson put the gun to his head and squeezed the trigger, but nothing happened because the weapon had jammed. He racked the slide back to chamber a round, and this time succeeded in shooting himself in the head.

“The woman made attempts to revive him by doing CPR,” Anderson said.

“It’s fortunate that no one else was hurt,” Anderson said, “but it’s unfortunate that you can’t change what did happen.”

You can reach C & G Staff Writer Andy Kozlowski at akozlowski@candgnews.com or at (586)279-1104.