A Detroit man and a Georgia woman were struck despite having no involvement in the confrontation, police said.
SOUTHFIELD, Mich. — Two people who police say had nothing to do with an argument outside a Southfield restaurant were wounded when gunfire erupted between two concealed pistol license holders, leaving a 58-year-old Inkster woman dead and a man in custody.
The injuries to the bystanders are a central part of the investigation into the Friday night shooting at the TGI Fridays at 26299 Evergreen Road. Southfield police said a 54-year-old Detroit man and a 42-year-old woman from Evans, Georgia, were struck during the confrontation but were not participants in the dispute that preceded the gunfire.
Police were dispatched to the parking lot at about 11:25 p.m. Sept. 4 after receiving a report of shots fired. Officers found the 58-year-old Inkster woman with multiple gunshot wounds. She was taken to a hospital in critical condition and later died. Her identity had not been publicly released in the information available Sunday.
Investigators said their preliminary findings indicate the woman and a 35-year-old Southfield man had been engaged in a verbal altercation before both drew firearms. Police said both held valid concealed pistol licenses. The man was taken into custody after the shooting, but authorities had not announced charges or publicly identified him as of the latest reports.
The Detroit man was shot in the abdomen and transported to a hospital, where police said he was in serious but stable condition. The woman visiting from Georgia was wounded in the upper shoulder and arm area and was driven to a hospital by friends. She was listed in stable condition in the latest police information.
Southfield police specifically described the two surviving victims as bystanders and said they were not involved in the argument. Authorities have not disclosed where they were standing when the shooting began or whether either knew the people involved in the confrontation. Their names have not been released.
The circumstances surrounding the gunfire remain under investigation. Police have not said what prompted the verbal dispute, how long it lasted or which person fired first. Authorities also have not announced a complete accounting of the shots fired or said publicly whether available video captured the encounter.
The shooting follows another deadly episode investigated in Southfield in August. The Detroit News reported that two men died and another person was wounded after gunfire outside an office building containing a restaurant on Aug. 9. Police at the time were investigating circumstances surrounding that business and the late-night gathering. Authorities have not indicated that the August case and Friday’s shooting are connected.
Friday’s shooting occurred in a restaurant parking lot, placing people who police say were uninvolved directly in the path of the violence. Investigators have not released additional information about how the two bystanders were struck, and no finding has been announced assigning legal responsibility for their injuries.
Police said there appeared to be no additional threat to the public after the 35-year-old man was detained. Detectives continued investigating the fatal shooting Sunday, including the events that led to the argument and the sequence of gunfire. No motive beyond the reported verbal confrontation has been made public.
Author note: Last updated September 6, 2026.