Two brothers involved in fatal shooting in Sterling Heights

Friends of a 26-year-old Sterling Heights man, allegedly fatally shot by his 17-year-old brother who is now in police custody, say he was the most "giving" person and became his younger siblings' guardian when their parents both died.

The shooting occurred Saturday around 5:30 p.m. on the 43000 block of Frontenac Drive in Sterling Heights, according to police. The 26-year-old brother, identified as Brandon Van Riper in a GoFundMe, was pronounced deceased at the scene and the 17-year-old brother was taken into police custody. 

Prosecutors are still reviewing the incident to determine appropriate charges for the 17-year-old boy. 

Dena Halim, who'd been friends with Van Riper since middle school, said he was the "sweetest, kindest" person she'd ever met.

"He would give the shirt off his back to anybody," said Halim. He "always has a smile on his face, was a shoulder to cry on for anybody who needed him."

Macomb County court records show he sought guardianship of at least two siblings in March. Haim said Van Riper's mother died in 2012 and his siblings' father died in 2021.

The GoFundMe has been created by Van Riper's family to raise money for a memorial service and to bail the 17-year-old brother out of jail. It describes the shooting as an accident.

"He worked his fingers to the bone working multiple jobs to provide for them and get them through school," the page says. "To say the least, he was a fighter."

Halim said Van Riper was the kind of person who was family to "everybody" and "was there for everybody anytime they called him."

Crystal Baragar, another friend of Van Riper, agreed. She recalled a time when she and her husband were homeless and he "was willing to give up his bedroom and his own house for us."

He was "a very loving and caring individual. and he would literally give you the shirt off his back," said Baragar.