Detroit off-duty officer shot, killed after firing rounds at 2 officers
A suicidal, off-duty Detroit Police officer shot and injured two of his colleagues Monday afternoon, police said.
One of the officers returned fire and killed him.
Detroit police responded to 911 call of a suicide in progress right before 2:30 p.m. at the intersection of East Davison Street and St. Aubin Street, near the Highland Park water tower. There, officers were met with a man, 45, in police uniform with a high powered rifle and sounds of gunfire, said Detroit Police Chief James White at a news conference on the scene Monday night.
Responding officers took cover behind their vehicle. The off-duty officer then took multiple shots at the vehicle and the officers, White said. One officer was wounded on the leg, another officer was wounded on the thigh. One officer returned fire, killing the colleague.
"It's a horrible day," White said, surrounded by a group of officers and Mayor Mike Duggan. But "the officers that responded were heroes. Once they recognized it was one of our own members, they still had to do their job and make sure that everyone else was safe."
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The injured officers are recovering and are in stable condition, White said.
White said the off-duty officer was asking for "suicide by cop." He did not release the officer's name.
White said the officer who died spent 13 years in the department and was a member of the department's special response team. It's a highly trained unit that responds to the "most violent perpetrators," including sensitive and dangerous situations like active shooters and barricaded gunmen.
Prior to October, the officer's work was limited due to a degenerative medical condition, White said. But on Oct. 3, he returned to full duty.
He didn't have a mental health history within the department, White said.
“We’re not immune to mental crisis. We're just like everyone else — it affects everybody, including law enforcement." White said of the tragedy, still wearing the suit he interviewed in for the position of CEO of Detroit Wayne Integrated Health Network that day.
Andrea Sahouri covers criminal justice for the Detroit Free Press. Contact her at asahouri@freepress.com or on X: @andreamsahouri.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit off-duty officer shot, killed after firing rounds at 2 officers
