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Detroit police officer injured, suspect dead after stabbing and shooting incident

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Posted at 6:50 PM, Apr 20, 2021
and last updated 2021-04-20 23:03:21-04

DETROIT (WXYZ) — Detroit Police Chief James Craig says an officer was injured and a suspect killed during a violent altercation on the city's west side.

The incident happened in the area of Eight Mile and Hanna.

Craig says the officers were responding to reports of a man suffering some kind of mental problem. The responding officers found that the man had stabbed himself several times with a large knife, inflicting serious injuries.

The chief says the officers tried to remove the knife from the suspect when he began stabbing one of the officers in the leg.

The officer's partner then fired several rounds, striking the suspect. Craig says at this time it's unclear if the suspect was killed by the gunshots or succumbed to the self-inflicted knife wounds.

Craig says the officer is in stable condition with both knife wounds and a gunshot wound to the hand. He says it is believed the gunshot wound is the result of friendly fire, as the suspect did not have a gun. However, Craig says that is still under investigation.

Chief Craig says the man's mental situation may have been triggered by drug usage.

The incident is still under investigation.