Gunman surrenders after shooting neighbor over package dispute in Detroit

Package dispute leads to man killing neighbor in Detroit

A man barricaded himself in his Detroit home Thursday after killing his neighbor over a package dispute. He eventually surrendered peacefully.

DETROIT (FOX 2) - Detroit police said a man who fatally shot his neighbor Thursday morning surrendered to officers after an hours-long barricade on the city's west side.

Chief James White said the fatal shooting stemmed from a dispute that goes back a year when a package that was sent to him was delivered to his neighbor instead, which created a conflict and ended with a misdemeanor conviction.

Around 11:30 a.m., White said the suspect surrendered after "an amazing hostage negotiation team" stayed in contact with him and built a report with the individual.

"I want to thank our crisis negotiation team. They are amazing. They do this 24 hours a day, seven days a week a lot," he said. "They did an amazing job of establishing a report with him."

The barricade started after a dispute from over a year ago escalated to a fatal shooting, prompting police to respond to the west side location, near Joy and Greenfield.

Residents on the Detroit-Dearborn border who live on Robson Street had been asked to shelter in place as the department negotiated with the man.

"I feel good, I'm proud of our team, this is a story that I want to tell every day," said White.

Police were called to home around 6:45 a.m. after a call came in about shots being fired. When officers arrived at the scene, they spotted a victim laying in the road and suffering from a gunshot wound. A tarp was later spotted covering a body.

Both CIT officers and crisis negotiators responded to the home and were in touch with the suspect, who is an avid gun collector and had multiple military grade weapons in his home.

The incident in question happened around Christmas a year ago when a package that was delivered to his neighbor and he wanted the package back. When he didn't get the package back, a conflict arose and culminated with him being charged with a misdemeanor.

He was recently sentenced to 60 days in jail.

White said the suspect was being taken to a hospital before he was expected to be taken to jail. A bomb squad was tasked with removing the weapons from the home and multiple animals as well.

"He wanted me to hear his side of the story. We told him ‘if you come out, I will listen.' He wanted me to walk and talk with him so we walked and talked. He gave me some information about his initial complaint," the police chief said.

Crime and Public Safety Detroit