Officer Fatally Shoots Unarmed Suspect in Struggle

• Get Patch’s daily newsletter and real-time news alerts.

DEARBORN, MI – A Dearborn police officer fatally shot an unarmed suspect after a struggle on Detroit’s west side Wednesday afternoon, police said.

A source with knowledge of the investigation told The Detroit News the police officer, who hasn’t been named, shot after the suspect went for the officer’s weapon.

The shooting occurred after the officer recognized the 36-year-old suspect, who is from Detroit, and stopped to question him.

Dearborn Police Chief Ronald Haddad said in a statement the suspect was wanted on a $2,500 misdemeanor warrant out of Redford Township, which is near Dearborn’s border with Detroit, and had escaped from officers earlier in the day after allegedly committing a larceny in Dearborn.

The shooting occurred in the 8000 block of Whitcomb about 12:30 p.m. The officer exited his police vehicle and chased the man on foot, Detroit Police Chief James Craig told the Detroit Free Press.

The pursuit “ended in the back yard of a residence, where there was an obvious struggle,” Craig said.

After wrestling with the suspect, the suspect broke free. At one point, the officer sprayed him with pepper spray to try to control him. The officer sustained minor injuries in the struggle, his uniform was torn and equipment from his belt was in disarray, according to reports.

The officer was taken to a hospital for treatment of his injuries.

“This is extremely tragic, and while we are grateful that the officer involved did not sustain serious injuries, our condolences go out to the family of the decedent,” Haddad said in a statement.

The Detroit Police Department and Michigan State Police are investigating, and the Detroit Coalition Against Police Brutality issued a statement saying it would look into the shooting as well.

The officer is white and the suspect is black.

“We remain vigilant about these shootings, and will withhold any other statements until our investigators have completed a fact-finding,” coalition spokesman Ken Reed said. “We want to make sure that proper procedures were followed, and will continue to monitor Dearborn and Detroit police departments relative to this incident.”