An officer-involved shooting on Detroit's east side has culminated in the death of a man, following a confrontation near a local park where children were playing little league football. The incident, which took place around 7:10 p.m. yesterday near Balduck Park, in the area of Chandler Park Drive and Canyon Street, was a result of the officers recognizing a suspect from a previous narcotics case, reported WXYZ.
Assistant Detroit Police Chief Charles Fitzgerald, in his briefing near the scene, explained that the man, a white male in his 30s known to the police for previous drug-related offenses, drew and fired a weapon at the officers. Officers, after checking his name against the Law Enforcement Information Network, found that he was wanted for a parole violation. During the incident, the officer returned fire, fatally wounding the suspect, believing he had been shot, which later was confirmed to be untrue at the hospital. The gunfire from the suspect left a mark on the lower part of the passenger door of the patrol car, which could be why he might have thought he was shot, Fitzgerald said. The officer involved has been placed on administrative leave as the investigation continues, according to WWJ Newsradio.
Fitzgerald affirmed that a weapon was recovered from the scene. While no other injuries were reported, he recognized the potential peril that could have befallen young children present at a nearby football practice. "Just very, very fortunate. This is a horribly dangerous situation," Fitzgerald said, as per WXYZ. "I'm just very, very thankful that no one else was injured." Subsequently addressing the concerns of parents about the safety of such locations, he encouraged them to persist in bringing their children to practice, bolstering the notion that officers were present to ensure safety.
