Man who charged at police with sword and dagger, injuring officer, is killed on Detroit's west side
DETROIT (FOX 2) - Detroit police officers were involved in another shooting Thursday evening, ending with the death of a man who is said to have attacked officers with a sword and at least one other weapon. Police released photos of the weapons, which you can see below. One officer was hurt when the suspect threw a dagger that hit them in the face, just below the eye.
This happened at Grand River and Meyers on Detroit's west side around 7:15 p.m. Chief Craig spoke later that evening and gave more details.
Chief Craig said the officers were on their way to an unrelated call when they came to the intersection and saw a man in the middle of the road with a 32-inch sword. Craig said the man began approaching the officer's vehicle, swinging the sword "wildly" while dressed in some sort of protective gear.
The officers got out of the vehicle and the man began to run in their direction, still swinging the sword. He was told to drop the weapon but he refused.
One officer deployed his Taser, Craig said, but the man was not stopped.
Craig said the man then at some point took out a second weapon, an 8-inch dagger, and threw it at the officers. One was hit right below the eye.
Craig said the officers continued to instruct the man to drop the sword but he refused, and then at some point, the second officer fired one shot which hit the suspect.
Craig stressed that the timeline is still unclear but at one point the suspect also climbed into the driver's side door of the police car and that a witness saw what was happening and used their personal car to drive up and block the door so the suspect could not get out of the car and get to the officers.
The suspect was taken to the hospital where he later died, Craig said.
That officer who was hit with the dagger is being treated at the hospital. It's not known how serious the injury is.
Chief Craig said police have interviewed the witness as well, who he's calling a Good Samaritan.
"This is the fourth officer-involved shooting now in a span of two and a half weeks. Clearly our officers are facing very aggressive suspects who are armed. In this case, he had three knives, one was a sword, a very long sword," Craig said. He said a third knife was also found on the suspect.
Detroit police released photos of the weapons confiscated at the scene.
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As mentioned by Chief Craig, this is the fourth shooting Detroit officers have been involved in this month.
The first police-involved shooting happened July 10 and that Craig said police were in the area following up on an investigation after eight people were shot at a block party the Fourth of July weekend. Three died.
A man, who has now been identified as Hakim Littleton, pulled out a gun and started shooting at officers as they were arresting an acquaintance. The department has released video of that shooting. No officers were hurt.
The second police shooting in July happened on July 23 as police were pursuing a suspect in a quadruple shooting that injured four teenagers at a block party the previous weekend. One of the victims just recently died, Craig said.
Craig released video of this shooting at Monday's press conference. FOX 2 is still working to obtain the video. In it, Craig pointed out from several POVs that you can see a gun in the suspect's hand as he jumped out of a car and began running from officers. Police were involved in a high-speed chase with multiple suspects in the vehicle when the driver crashed into a tree. All three in the car took off running.
One officer fired one shot at the suspect who was seen with a gun in his hand. He died later at the hospital. He has not yet been identified.
The third police shooting happened on July 26. Craig said the man was shot multiple times and is recovering in the hospital right now.
Craig said officers were in the area following up on an illegal stunt driving case when they saw a man with a gun sticking out of the waistband of his pants. Craig said officers approached the man and he took off running. Officers ran after him and, Craig said after turning a corner, one of the officers fired 5-6 shots, hitting the man multiple times.