By: Taylor Christensen | Royal Oak Review | Published August 4, 2025
ROYAL OAK — A man is dead following a shooting that occurred at approximately noon July 31 at the Devon Park Apartments, 3825 Crooks Road.
Southfield resident Gregory Hill, 65, was a maintenance worker at the apartments and was working at the time he was shot.
Officers received multiple 911 calls reporting an altercation and gunfire in the parking lot on July 31, according to a press release from the Royal Oak Police Department.
Police arrived and said they encountered the shooting suspect, 31-year-old Nathaniel Joshua-Olson Rockwell, a tenant of the apartment complex.
According to the press release, Rockwell complied with police commands and was immediately taken into custody.
Hill was found 100 feet away, where lifesaving attempts were made by Royal Oak Fire Department paramedics, but he eventually succumbed to his injuries and was pronounced dead at the scene.
Witnesses to the event said that Rockwell was having a verbal altercation with another tenant when he ran to his car and retrieved a handgun, according to the press release.
The other tenant involved ran away, and that is when police said Rockwell turned his attention to Hill, who was near the area at the time, but not directly involved in the argument.
“This was a senseless act of horrific violence. We extend our deepest condolences to the victim’s family and loved ones during this incredibly difficult time,” Royal Oak Police Chief Michael Moore said in a prepared statement. “Thankfully, due to the swift actions of our officers, the suspect was apprehended quickly before he could harm anyone else.”
Rockwell has been charged with one count of first-degree murder, a felony which carries up to life in prison without parole; two counts of felonious assault with a dangerous weapon, a four-year felony; and three counts of felony firearm, a two-year felony.
Rockwell has no prior criminal convictions, according to the press release. Rockwell was arraigned on Aug. 3 before Magistrate Lewis Langham of the 52-1 District Court in Novi. He was denied bond. He requested a court-appointed attorney.
According to online court records, his next court appearance will be a probable cause conference scheduled for Aug. 15 with Judge Derek W. Meinecke at the 44th District Court in Royal Oak.