Detroit police officer killed in shootout with other officers

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — An officer with the Detroit Police Department is dead and two others are injured after a mental health call turned into a shootout.

Around 2:26 p.m. Monday, DPS got a 911 call for a “suicide in progress” on East Davison Service Drive and Saint Aubin Street in Detroit. The caller was identified as a member of the DPS Special Response Team, who was off-duty. He was threatening suicide and “asking for suicide by cop,” according to Police Chief James E. White.

Responding officers heard shots and White said the suspect was shooting in the air. The officers retreated and took cover behind a vehicle. The suspect shot the back of the vehicle multiple times, hitting two officers, one in the leg and one in the thigh.

One of the officers returned fire, killing the suspect. White called it a “very tragic situation.”

“He was struggling with a mental crisis. Tragically, we are not immune to mental crisis, we’re just like everyone else. Our officers deal with this every single day,” White said at a news conference.

He said the 45-year-old man who died had been suffering with a “very serious degenerative condition” and had returned to work just over a week earlier, after working on a restricted schedule due to his illness. He had been working with the department for 13 years.

The two officers who were shot were in stable condition, according to White. The mayor noted their injuries were not life-threatening.

Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan commended the courage of the responding officers.

“It’s a reminder of the courage that the officers of this department show every day. They went to that scene knowing they were going to be confronted by a highly trained and armed officer in the department who was having a significant mental issue,” Duggan said.

Grief counseling will be made available and White said the department will work with the families involved to “make sure they get what they need.”

Michigan State Police is handling the investigation.

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