SAGINAW TOWNSHIP, MI -- A suspected robber was shot and killed at a poker game in Saginaw Township in a shooting in which a second person also was injured, according to Chief of Police Don Pussehl Jr.

"There was a poker game occurring at one of the apartments, and we know at least one person, maybe two, had gone to the game to rob the participants," Pussehl said. "That's what started this whole thing."

Forensic scientist Shane Hill of the Michigan State Police Crime Lab works the scene investigating a fatal shooting at 122 Ivanhoe Drive, Saginaw Township, in the Camelot Apartments, Thursday morning, March 12, 2015. Two men were shot at about 11:47 p.m. March 11. A 25-year-old man died of his gunshot wounds and a 27-year-old man arrived at Covenant HealthCare seeking treatment for his gunshot wounds.

The double shooting happened at 11:47 p.m. Wednesday, March 11, at Camelot Place Apartments, 122 Ivanhoe, Pussehl has said.

One of the poker players had a handgun, and gunfire was exchanged between the suspect and one of the players, Pussehl said.

The robbery suspect was fatally shot and another poker player at the apartment was injured, Pussehl said. The injured poker player was in stable condition at Covenant HealthCare in Saginaw.

Police are speaking with witnesses and "trying to determine if there's more to it than that," Pussehl said.

Police are getting conflicting reports about whether the suspected armed robber worked alone. Witnesses told police the man forced his way into the second-story apartment, Pussehl said, and the case is still under investigation.

"There are a few unknowns," he said, noting an autopsy is scheduled for Thursday, March 12.

All hands are on deck with extra department resources brought in to give the needed attention to the homicide, said Saginaw Township Lt. Rick Herren.



"We're still working it," Herren said Thursday morning. "We've got every detective in."

Second poker game homicide

This is Saginaw Township's first homicide since 2012, Herren said, when 36-year-old Michael Kuhlman was shot and killed at his home at 2555 Luella off Weiss near Hemmeter in Saginaw Township, where he was hosting a poker game.

A jury convicted Quintel A. West of first-degree felony murder and 11 other felonies in the late May 29, 2012, death. He will spend the rest of his life in prison.

"Those poker games," Pussehl said, "first of all, they're illegal for the most part. It runs into risky business. When someone knows the games are occurring on a frequent basis, they're setting themselves up for a pattern.

"When something like this happens, it shows you've got to be very careful."

-- Brad Devereaux is a public safety reporter for MLive/The Saginaw News. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook and Google+