Rakheem Cannon, a 26-year-old Black man, was driving through Detroit’s west side on the afternoon of April 7, 2017, when the day suddenly turned violent. Just before 2:30 p.m., two vehicles sped down Schoolcraft and came to a stop at Fielding Street. In a moment caught only faintly by distant surveillance footage, a passenger climbed out of a blue Chevy Trailblazer, raised a handgun, and opened fire into Cannon’s car.
He was struck multiple times in the head and chest, and he later died at the hospital.
People were close enough to hear what happened, even if the camera couldn’t capture it clearly. A church sat across the street holding a function, while neighbors worked in their yards and others were out on the block—ordinary movement in the middle of the day, interrupted by gunfire. Detective Michael Crosby said it looked like a neighborhood beef that escalated, but investigators still couldn’t say what the conflict was or why it ended there, in plain view, with no apparent regard for who else might be in the line of fire.
For Cannon’s mother, Kelley Westbrook, the loss was tied to a painful collision of timing that she said she can never forget. Her son was brought to Sinai-Grace Hospital at the same time she was there for surgery, and she described learning the news while still sedated and being wheeled to him. She remembered holding his hand, telling him she loved him, and believing he waited for her—long enough to hear her voice—before he was gone.
As of the report, there had been no arrests, and police said they had no strong leads. The surveillance video was described as low-quality and recorded from far away, leaving investigators without a license plate number and without a clear identification of the shooter beyond the detail that the gunman emerged from the blue Chevy Trailblazer. A $2,500 reward was offered for information leading to an arrest, and investigators urged anyone who knew what sparked the confrontation—or who recognized the vehicle or those involved—to come forward through Crime Stoppers.
