Oakland Co. deputy dies after ‘ambush’ while on duty
LANSING, Mich. (WLNS) — An Oakland County sheriff’s deputy died Saturday night while working undercover in an auto theft investigation.
Deputy Bradley J. Reckling, 30, an investigator in the Auto Theft Unit, “was ambushed and killed” on the northeast side of Detroit just before 11 p.m., sheriff’s officials said.
“Deputy Reckling was a nine-year veteran and a much beloved member of our team,” officials said. “He is survived by a loving wife and three beautiful girls, ages 5, 4, and 1, with one more child on the way. He was a friend and trusted partner to countless other members of our agency.”
The auto theft investigation had started in Madison Heights, Oakland County, and led investigators into the city of Detroit, officials said in a social media post on Sunday afternoon.
Gunfire hit Reckling multiple times, officials said. He died at the hospital soon after.
Three suspects are now in custody, sheriff’s officials said.
Reckling and two other members of the Auto Theft Unit had traced a stolen Chevrolet Equinox to a Detroit location, the sheriff’s office said. Reckling first spotted the stolen car, and and the other two detectives were on their way in separate vehicles when the stolen car stopped.
At least one of the three suspects in the car got out and began shooting at Reckling, the sheriff’s office said.
“This agency is crushed,” Sheriff Michael Bouchard said in a news release on Sunday. “If you are someone who believes in prayer, please pray for his family and this agency.”
A crisis team, called in to counsel deputies after last weekend’s mass shooting in Rochester Hills, Oakland County, had just left the sheriff’s office on Saturday.
Prosecutor Karen D. McDonald said in a news release Sunday, “This was a senseless murder and a terrible loss for our entire community…It’s also another tragedy caused by gun violence, which continues to take a tremendous toll on our community.”
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