On the east side of Detroit, an 18-year-old man was critically injured following a police-involved shooting. The incident transpired during a traffic stop conducted by the Detroit Police Department's Gang Unit at a McDonald's drive-thru on East Seven Mile at Gratiot, around 10:00 p.m. yesterday, WWJ Newsradio reports.
According to Detroit Police Chief Todd Bettison, officers made the stop due to obscured license plates. While two women complied with the vehicle search, the young man, sitting in the back seat, resisted and became combative. Produced a taser by the officers, but it is unclear if it effectively subdued the man, as reported by Bettison in a statement obtained by WWJ Newsradio.
Fleeing on foot after breaking free from the officers' grasp, the young man, identified by family as Daniel Stubbs Jr., is said to have produced a handgun, which has been recovered since. "One officer fired, from what I'm being told, one shot," Bettison told FOX 2 Detroit. The bullet struck Stubbs in the upper body, and he was taken to the hospital, where he remains in critical condition.
The shooting, which took place at 9:42 p.m. near the southwest corner of the McDonald’s, just a short distance from the traffic stop location, signals yet another stark collision between law enforcement and civilians. "When you pull a weapon on a Detroit police officer, or any officer, these are the types of things that happen," Bettison explained in an interview with FOX 2 Detroit. Officers involved have been interviewed, and body-worn camera footage is available. Bettison expressed sympathy for the suspect's family and stressed the precarious nature of police work when threatened with firearms in a statement to ClickOnDetroit.
The two female occupants in the car at the time of the incident are said to be cooperating with the authorities. As details emerge and the investigation continues, Stubbs's father reported to FOX 2 Detroit that he was turned away at the hospital and not allowed to see his son due to the ongoing investigation.
