Detroit, MI – Protesters have started to gather to demand “justice” for a man who was fatally shot by Detroit police officers Friday afternoon while he was shooting at police.
The incident started at around 12:30 p.m. as gang officers were conducting surveillance in the area of San Juan and McNichols.
The officers were investigating suspects believed to be connected to murders which occurred Fourth of July weekend, according to Detroit Free Press.
The officers observed a suspect sitting in a vehicle who they determined was a wanted fugitive.
While officers were arresting the suspect, a second gang member arrived and started fighting with police.
“They were notified that this person was also an associate of the person being arrested, and as the officers went to investigate (the second man), immediately a struggle began between an officer and this suspect,” Detroit PD Chief James Craig told reporters, according to The Detroit News.
“As the struggle continued, the officer tried to hold this individual,” the chief said. “(The suspect) then removed a blue-steel, .22-caliber semiautomatic pistol and began to fire several rounds at the officers over the shoulder.”
The officers then returned fire and shot the suspect.
That suspect was transported to the hospital where he was pronounced dead.
The wanted fugitive was arrested and no officers were injured.
Shortly after the shooting, hundreds of activists arrived and started to heckle officers while demanding “justice” for the dead would-be cop-killer.
Officers equipped crowd-control gear and the mob started throwing objects at them.
Riot geared police and protesters clash pic.twitter.com/VZmbM7mP1b
— Darcie Moran (@darciegmoran) July 10, 2020
Video of the hostile crowd was posted online by Detroit Will Breathe, one of the groups who issued a call-to-action for activists to respond.
The group posted online that police “murdered” the suspect.
You can see video of the protest below. Warning – Obscene language:
Holly Matkin
