This Week in Detroit

An EF2 tornado tears through Detroit's east side Thursday — the city's first confirmed tornado in decades — prompting Mayor Mary Sheffield to declare a state of emergency as storms leave hundreds of thousands without power regionwide; a 15-year-old is charged as an adult in a fatal shooting outside an east-side liquor store, and Sheffield's former partner denies taking kickbacks as the social-media controversy around her continues.

The Weather: Heat Peaks Near 90 Degrees Wednesday

Sunday through Tuesday climb from the high 70s into the low 80s. Wednesday is the week's warmest day at 90°, with an 11% chance of rain and 0.016 inches of measured precipitation — the only day this week with any measured rain. Thursday cools into the mid-70s and stays mild through the weekend.

The News

EF2 tornado tears through Detroit's east side; Sheffield declares state of emergency

An EF2 tornado with peak winds of 115 mph touched down at 4:14 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 3, near Hancock Street and Ellery Place and tracked 3.5 miles south-southeast through the city, reaching a maximum width of a half-mile, according to a preliminary National Weather Service survey. The heaviest damage ran from Mack Avenue and Mount Elliott Street through East Grand Boulevard near East Lafayette Street, where several industrial buildings lost roof sections and walls; near Concord Avenue and Canton Street, large trees were snapped and two vacant buildings on St. Paul Street collapsed. The tornado crossed the Detroit River into Belle Isle, damaging trees and driving a scull boat into a tree near the Belle Isle Boat House, before lifting near the Model Yacht Basin; one person was hurt. A separate EF0 tornado with 70 mph winds touched down minutes earlier in Lincoln Park near Fort Street, snapping tree limbs and damaging electrical lines along a roughly 0.16-mile path.

Mayor Mary Sheffield declared a local state of emergency Friday evening for the area bounded by Sylvester Street, East Jefferson Avenue, Chene Street and McClellan Street, plus Belle Isle, giving the city authority to direct local resources and pursue state and federal recovery aid. Sources disagree on how long it had been since Detroit's last tornado. The Detroit News, citing NOAA data, put it at exactly 33 years, since Sept. 3, 1993; the mayor's office and ClickOnDetroit said the city's last tornado was in 1997. Both are reported here rather than resolved.

Source: The Detroit News, September 4 & 5, 2026; FOX 2 Detroit, September 4, 2026; ClickOnDetroit / WDIV Local 4, September 4 & 5, 2026

Teen, 15, charged as adult in fatal shooting outside east-side liquor store

Isaiah Lamar Gordon, 15, of Detroit was charged Aug. 29 with first-degree murder, three counts of assault with intent to murder and four counts of felony firearm after a shooting outside a liquor store in the 15500 block of East Warren Avenue around 11:10 p.m. Aug. 21. Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy waived juvenile jurisdiction so Gordon will be tried as an adult. “His alleged actions against our completely innocent victims were unprovoked and unimaginable,” she said. “He must be held accountable for his actions despite his personal circumstances.” Gordon's brother turned him in to police at the Ninth Precinct on Aug. 22.

Two accounts of the victims disagree and are reported here as given. The Detroit News and FOX 2 Detroit identify the woman killed, Faith Williams, as 65; ClickOnDetroit's initial Aug. 25 report put her age at 57, and its Aug. 29 follow-up at 60. The Detroit News and FOX 2 describe the second victim, who survived, as an unidentified 29-year-old Westland woman; ClickOnDetroit identifies her as Williams' niece, 20-year-old Katriana Cowan of Detroit. Williams was shot in the store and pronounced dead at the scene; the second woman was found outside and taken to a hospital. Police say Gordon and the victims did not know each other, and no motive has been released. His probable cause conference is set for Sept. 8 and his preliminary examination for Sept. 15.

Source: The Detroit News, August 29, 2026; FOX 2 Detroit, August 29, 2026; ClickOnDetroit / WDIV Local 4, August 25 & 29, 2026

Six workers hurt in accident after Ed Sheeran concert at Ford Field

Six adults were taken to a hospital after an accident in Ford Field's vehicle tunnel following Saturday night's Ed Sheeran concert, the Detroit Lions said. Two victims were in serious condition and four were stable at the time of transport, the Detroit Fire Department said; one of the injured was a member of the Ford Field team. No further detail on how the accident happened has been released.

Source: ClickOnDetroit / WDIV Local 4, August 30, 2026

Sheffield's ex-partner denies taking kickbacks as controversy continues

Marvin Walker, a former romantic partner of Mayor Mary Sheffield, disputed a report by the Michigan Enjoyer site that he collected cash payments on business deals on her behalf while she served on Detroit City Council. “I did not take Mary no kickback,” Walker wrote in an Aug. 28 text message to The Detroit News. The report's author, Charlie LeDuff, said Aug. 29 he stands by “every word and there is more to come.”

Sheffield said in an Aug. 28 statement that Walker is “fabricating lies” to protect himself from his own legal troubles, that no city funds or city contract ever went to him, and that a $1,800 payment he received from a nonprofit in 2019 was for community-event services, like other vendors; she said she personally loaned him money during their relationship and that any funds he gave her were repayment of that loan. “The claims being made are false, baseless and unsubstantiated,” she said.

The statements follow reporting that Sheffield left an Aug. 28 event through a back door rather than answer questions about the matter. Activist Jahdante Smith said his Facebook posts about Sheffield and Walker were meant to draw attention to Walker's alleged real estate dealings, and that police seized his phone Aug. 19 after Police Chief Todd Bettison asked him, in a recorded phone call, to take the photos down. Bettison said Aug. 30 he made that request personally — not on Sheffield's behalf — because he found the photos “inappropriate” and believed they were “intended to shame and humiliate a woman.” Bettison said a separate criminal investigation into Smith, opened after a citizen alleged Smith threatened her life, “began before my phone call with him on August 5, 2026” and led to the phone's seizure under a judge-issued search warrant. Smith says the seizure raises Fourth Amendment concerns, that some of the phone's contents may have been erased, and that he is consulting attorneys.

Source: The Detroit News, August 29, 2026; ClickOnDetroit / WDIV Local 4, August 28 & 30, 2026

Metro Detroit

Storms and an EF2 tornado leave hundreds of thousands without power

Severe storms swept Southeast Michigan Thursday, Sept. 3, spawning the EF2 tornado above and a smaller EF0 tornado in Lincoln Park, and knocking out power to more than 350,000 utility customers regionwide. DTE Energy reported more than 241,000 of its 2 million customers still without service by mid-afternoon Friday, down from 255,345 that morning, and said it expected to restore 65% of affected customers by the end of Friday, 90% by Saturday and the rest by Sunday; Consumers Energy reported about 5,700 customers still out Friday afternoon, down from roughly 23,000 at the storms' peak. Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel warned residents heading into the holiday weekend to watch for post-storm scams, including unlicensed contractors and people posing as utility workers demanding upfront payment.

Source: The Detroit News, September 4, 2026

What's Happening This Week

Sunday, September 6 – Monday, September 7

Jill Scott brings the To Whom This May Concern Tour to the Fox Theatre Sunday. Eric Clapton plays Little Caesars Arena. Music continues Monday with Blackstreet and The Lox at the Aretha Franklin Amphitheatre, and the Tigers host the Twins at Comerica Park, 3:10 p.m. Cliff Bell's runs its regular jazz lineup Sunday — Urban Art Orchestra and Kasan Belgrave.

Tuesday, September 8 – Wednesday, September 9

The Tigers host the Twins again Tuesday, 6:40 p.m. Martin Luther King travels to Cass Tech for boys soccer, 5:30 p.m. Wednesday brings Danny Elfman at the Fox Theatre and ADÉLA's Red Bottoms Tour at Saint Andrew's Hall. Girls volleyball runs citywide across DPSCD both nights — more than a dozen matchups each evening, most at 5 p.m.

Thursday, September 10 – Friday, September 11

Carly Pearce plays Saint Andrew's Hall Thursday, and Dwele plays Sound Board. High school football runs citywide Friday: Renaissance hosts Martin Luther King, Cass Tech hosts Southeastern, Cody hosts Central, Henry Ford hosts Mumford and Osborn hosts Douglass, all kicking off around 5 p.m. Friday also brings TURNSTILE's Never Enough Tour to the Russell Industrial Center and Lily Allen at the Fox Theatre.

Saturday, September 12

The Tigers host the Rockies, 1:10 p.m. at Comerica Park. Hasan Minhaj and Ronny Chieng play the Masonic Temple Theatre, Napoleon Dynamite screens at the Fisher Theatre, Rickey Smiley plays Sound Board, and Russell Peters' Relax World Tour stops at Music Hall Center. Ford Field lots open for parking ahead of the Lions' game against the Saints. “underscores” at The Majestic Theatre is listed as canceled.

Around Metro Detroit

Sunday — Wu-Tang Forever: The Final Chamber plays Pine Knob Music Theatre in Clarkston.

Tuesday – Wednesday — Pitbull's I'm Back tour, with Lil Jon, plays Pine Knob both nights.

Thursday — Roxette's 40th Anniversary Tour stops at Pine Knob.

Friday – Saturday — Erykah Badu plays Freedom Hill in Sterling Heights both nights. Saturday — Michigan hosts Oklahoma at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor.

The feed also lists a Summer Baseball Fundraiser at “UWM Field” Friday — the same venue Livonia and Troy's feeds call Jimmy John's Field — not resolved here.

Event details and times can change. Confirm with each venue before heading out.