Detroit Police Shoot, Kill Man Armed With AR-15 After Shootout

DETROIT, MI — Detroit police officers shot and killed a man armed with an AR-15 following a Tuesday morning shootout near one of the department's precincts, according to department officials.

Detroit Police Chief James Craig said the suspect, who he described as a 28-year-old man but did not identify, was shot and killed by officers following an exchange of gunfire. The suspect was inside a parked vehicle and armed with an AR-15, Craig said. When police surrounded the vehicle with armored vehicles and asked the man to show them his hands, he shook his head "no" prior to opening fire.

"Had this suspect left this location there could have been a bad situation," Craig said.

Craig held a news conference around 9 a.m. Tuesday, four hours removed from when an initial shootout was reported outside a city of Detroit police precinct. Craig said the man opened fire at the department building, with about four rounds hitting and entering the building.

A lieutenant sitting at his desk went around the back of the building and tried to get a look at who was shooting and called for help, Craig said. From there, the suspect got inside his vehicle and drove about a half a block away where he parked in a parking lot of a closed business and waited.

Prior to the shooting at the precinct, Craig said the suspect had shot at officers responding to an alarm at the Harper Food Center. One bullet shattered the windshield of a police cruiser, leading an officer inside the vehicle to be cut from a glass fragment, Craig said.