An unknown rifleman opened fire on two police officers in Detroit on Tuesday night, hitting a patrol car several times.
According to Mlive, the shooter opened fire on the patrol vehicle a half hour before midnight, firing around 10 rounds and hitting the car three times.
Detroit Police Chief James Craig said on Wednesday that the officers and surrounding public were unharmed by the event, and that investigators may have recovered the rifle used in the shooting.
The police were originally in the area to break up an illegal dice game when they heard gunfire and diverted to investigate.
“As the officers were under fire, the officers made an attempt to get out of their vehicle. In fear for their life, they engaged with the suspect, fired multiple rounds,” Craig said. “We are extremely fortunate the officers were not hit by gunfire.”
Police have identified one suspect after he turned himself in on Wednesday. As of now, he has not been identified as the shooter but is considered a “person of interest” and will remain in custody.
Craig says the incident is tragic.
“I’ve been very vocal about what’s been going on across America today,” Craig said. “We’re sitting on four issues that are over in the prosecutor’s office right now, waiting for an answer on threats to kill police officers. We are in an environment today that if someone makes a treat to kill a police officer, we take it seriously.”
Detroit officers -namely white officers- have been experiencing threats made against officers following the Dallas Police ambush in July.”
“I am committed to pushing this issue. It’s been well over a month,” Craig said of the cases. “I am not going to back off of this. The message must be clear: You don’t get to threaten a police officer, you don’t get to shoot at police officers. You do so, and know we will find you, we will get you and we will arrest you.”
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