Within the last hour, the local media has finally jumped on the shooting at Flip Murray's house on Monday night. From Mark Martindale of the Detroit News:
Murray, 27, told police he was returning to his home, in the 1000 block of Lorenzo, about 1:30 a.m. Monday after being at a Detroit nightclub. Murray left the front door to his home open for a 25-year-old woman friend who was following him home in her own vehicle. As the woman walked to the front door she was approached by two men, both wearing masks, and holding handguns.
"She screamed, which brought Murray to the door," said Troy Police Lt. Gerard Scherlinck. "One of the men gestured to Murray to walk toward the door and as he did, Murray slammed the door shut."
Murray retreated to another part of the house and called 911 as three gunshots were heard outside, Scherlinck said. Two gunshots went into the front door and one pierced a window near the door. No one was injured, police said.
Police arrived a few minutes later and the gunmen were gone. The woman, who initially ran from the house, returned and was also interviewed by police. Scherlinck said she corroborated Murray's recollection of events.
Murray told police that shortly after he came home he noticed a light-colored, possibly tan sedan pull into the parking lot of a nearby landscaping business. A police tracking dog followed a scent from Murray's home to that location where it is believed someone stepped into a vehicle and drove off.
Did the woman actually make it into the house before Murray slammed the door shut? It's unclear from the above story, but Stan Donaldson of the Detroit Free Press indicates that she did:
Murray told police he saw two masked men standing behind his friend in the doorway, and one of the men demanded that he come to the front door. Murray said he slammed the door as his friend ran into the home and jumped behind a couch.
Neither the News nor the Free Press named the club that Murray attended (the News said "Troy police declined to name" it), but we know from the initial report on ClickonDetroit that it was The Sting, a strip club in Detroit. A little Googling by DBB reader Erin P. provided the following (very, very "not safe for work" link:) online review:
The best time to go to the sting is in the afternoon. That is when the hotest women are there. Some of the girls that I was talking to said that they don't like to work at night because it's way to dangerous. Dre Bly from the Lions was a regular there but I have not seen him in a while. Jason Maxell shows up every now and then.
Bringing home girls from the strip club, eh? I can see why the Pistons have been hesitant to publicize the incident -- I'm guessing they didn't go out of their way to tell any reporters at last night's game, which is why the local papers are just now getting to this a day and a half after the fact. Although, considering the initial report has a dateline of 7:08pm last night, everyone had ample opportunity to stumble upon this on their own, even if their police contacts were asleep on the job.