Clinton Township business owner slain, second man wounded in shootings

The owner of a Clinton Township business was killed and another man was wounded during a double shooting Tuesday morning, police said.

A “long-standing dispute” between two employees -- including the suspected gunman -- led to the slaying of the 61-year-old owner of Reliable Fence, on Groesbeck Highway, north of 15 Mile Road, Clinton Township police said.

Police did not divulge the owner’s name. State business license records show the president of Reliable Fence & Home Modernization is Thomas E. Badke. He founded the company with Thomas Berge in 1985, according to the Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs.

Police were dispatched to Reliable Fence at 8:42 a.m. Tuesday. Upon arrival, they found one man dead inside the business and one man wounded, Detective Capt. Richard Maierle said.

Maierle said a 24-year-old employee at the company pulled out a gun and shot a 34-year-old co-worker. The owner was shot next -- in the head, police said. Other employees jumped on the gunman to successfully wrestle the weapon away from him, police said.

The shooter fled the scene in a gray vehicle but crashed into the back of a flatbed pickup truck on southbound Groesbeck Highway at Kelly Road, approximately one mile from Reliable Fence.

A witness followed the man, who was seen running between homes. Fraser Public Safety officers responding to a call at 8:46 a.m. of a driver running from the crash heard an alert from Clinton Township police that a suspect in the shooting was at large.

Police found a jacket that was worn by the suspect draped on the bed of a pickup truck parked at a business near 14 Mile Road and Groesbeck. Approximately two dozen officers from Fraser, Roseville and Clinton Township police officers established a perimeter in the neighborhood. Disney Elementary School and Salk Elementary School, part of the Fraser Public Schools and both located in Clinton Township, were briefly placed on lockdown.

The suspect was arrested without a struggle after he was seen running on Bittersweet Street a few minutes later, Public Safety Director George Rouhib said.

“I think he ran out of gas (from running). He was tired,” Rouhib said.

Handgun ammunition in the form of a magazine for a semi-automatic pistol was found in a pocket of the suspect’s pants, police said.

The first man who was wounded, identified as a resident of Harrison Township, was shot twice in the back and was transported to McLaren Macomb hospital in Mount Clemens. He was reported in serious condition early Tuesday afternoon.

“It looks like he’s going to be OK,” Maierle said.

Details regarding the nature of the workplace dispute were not revealed Tuesday morning.

As evidence technicians remained at the scene Tuesday afternoon, detectives were interviewing the suspect at the Clinton Township Police Department, Maierle said.

No other information about the arrested man was released.

The slaying is the first homicide of the year in Macomb County.

Clinton Township Supervisor Robert Cannon said he did not know the slain business owner, but called the shootings “a shame.”

“It’s foolish,” said Cannon. “Obviously, I grieve for his family, his friends and other employees.”

Stay with MacombDaily.com for continuing updates to this report.

Staff Writer Mitch Hotts contributed to this report.