An off-duty Detroit police officer is in critical condition but expected to make a full recovery after being shot in a party store parking lot on Gratiot near Chene in Detroit on Sunday night.
Police say one suspect was shot and killed at the scene and another suspect was arrested later that night. They are still searching for a third suspect, according to Detroit Police Chief James Craig.
Police say a gunman tried to rob the officer after he left a store around 11 p.m. and that's when the officer opened fire, shooting the suspect. The suspect also fired shots, striking the officer once in the the torso and once in the ankle. The suspect was killed.
The officer underwent emergency surgery at Detroit Receiving Hospital, according to police. Craig said he is optimistic the officer will make a full recovery. He is 27 years old and works in the seventh precinct. The chief said he had just gotten off duty and was wearing plain clothes.
Craig said the officer wants to be part of the motorcycle patrol, and told him that he needs to "get out, and we'll do everything we can to get you the motorcycle."
According to Craig, the suspect was very aggressive, and video shows him with a gun in his hand, arm extended and running at a fast pace toward the officer.
A second suspect has been arrested, but they are searching for a third suspect, described as a black male, 5-feet-10 to 5-feet-11 driving a black or dark-colored sedan.
Craig said that suspect showed up to the scene about five minutes after the shootout and took both the suspect's gun and the officer's gun.
According to Craig, he was very "methodical" and hung around the scene without helping either the suspect or the officer, both of whom were shot.
The store was not a Green Light location, according to Craig, and the surveillance video was very grainy.
According to Craig, the seventh precinct had approached the owner beforehand about becoming a Green Light location and he was very interested.
