Detroit Police Officer Shot, Fighting For Life

DETROIT, MI — A Detroit police officer is fighting for his life after being shot in the head Sunday night. The 14-year veteran and his partner were responding to a domestic-violence call at about 10:45 p.m. at the Oakman Apartments on the 10000 block of Joy Road when he was shot, according to Detroit Police. By Monday afternoon, media reports indicated that the officer’s condition had deteriorated.

The officer underwent surgery after the incident, but doctors believe brain swelling set in and a second surgery may be needed, said Beaumont Dearborn Dr. James Wagner. "The injuries themselves were obviously very devastating," he said a news conference. "We're obviously going to do everything we can to save this gentleman's life."

Detroit Police Chief James Craig said it’s the eighth incident since last September in which an officer was either shot or murdered in the line of duty. "This is once again a sobering reminder of the dangers that our officers face each and every day," he said.

The Detroit Police Department Chief said the officer and his partner were responding to a call, where there was no indication of weapons involved, and knocked on a locked door that was the main entrance to an apartment building, the Detroit Free Press reported. The suspect, who was not involved with the domestic-violence call, could be seen on surveillance video chambering a round and approaching the door, Craig said.

"He opened the door with the gun extended," Craig said, according to the newspaper. "The officer struck was the first one who encountered the suspect."

An exchange of gunfire occurred, and the man and the officer fell to the ground simultaneously before the officer's partner, who had cover, "fired a number of rounds immobilizing the suspect," Craig said. The partner, who is six months out of the police academy, then pulled the injured officer to safety.

EMS had already been called for the suspected domestic violence incident, in which assault and battery was alleged, so the wounded officer received treatment almost immediately after the shooting, the Free Press reported. The officer was then transported to Beaumont Dearborn.

John Ploch, 59, who's lived in the building about a year, was home when the gunshots went off. “There's a lot of shooting around here,” he told the Free Press. "Somebody emptied a magazine out here and it sounded like somebody emptied a magazine back. I must have heard 15, 16, 17 shots. I got down on the floor in the bedroom."

Photo of Detroit Police Chief James by Joshua Lott / Stringer / Getty Images News / Getty Images