DNA Evidence Links Detroit Cop Shooting Suspect To Collin Rose’s Murder: Police

DETROIT, MI — The suspect in Wednesday’s non-fatal shooting of two Detroit police officers has been linked by DNA evidence to the November 2016 murder of Wayne State University Police Sgt. Collin Rose, authorities confirmed Friday.

Detroit Police Chief James Craig said at a morning news conference that Raymond Durham, 60, the suspect in the shooting earlier this week, has not been formally charged in Rose’s murder and “this does not signify closure” in the investigation. Rose died Nov. 23, 2016, a day after he had been shot in the head.

But, Craig said, “whenever there is a forensic match, it’s a significant step.”

Dorman has been charged in the shooting of the two Detroit police officers about 8:15 p.m. Wednesday in the area of Ash and Tillman streets. Charges in that case announced Friday by the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office include two counts of assault with intent to commit murder, two counts of resisting and obstructing the police causing serious impairment, one count of felon in possession of a firearm and five counts of felony firearm. Durham, who was injured in the confrontation with officers, was to be arraigned from his hospital bed by 36th District Court Magistrate Laura Echartea.

“We are able to charge this case today because of the round-the-clock collaboration with the Detroit Police Department, the Michigan State Police, and many others who worked tirelessly on this case,” Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy said in a statement. “Any time a police officer is injured is a stark reminder of how much law enforcement puts on the line every minute of every day.”

The injured officers have not been named. Worthy said one is a 20-year veteran of the police force who suffered multiple gunshot wounds. The other, a four-year member of the police force, sustained a gunshot wound to his leg. Both are being treated at a local hospital.

In Friday’s news conference, the police chief did not disclose the specifics of the DNA match, which came Thursday night from Michigan State Police.

Relatives of Durham told The Detroit News they worry that police are too eager to solve a big case. “I feel they’re trying to frame my brother,” Emory Durham, the suspect’s younger brother, told the newspaper Thursday, noting that Raymond Durham suffers from mental illness.

He sustained a serious work-related injury in 1976 that left him unable to work full-time and “slowly started deteriorating,” Emory Durham said. My brother really wasn’t right ever since then.”

Police had made an arrest in Rose’s murder, but charges were dismissed after it was determined they had the wrong man.

Feature photo: Sgt. Collin Rose via Wayne State University