DETROIT (WXYZ) — A Detroit police officer has been suspended with pay after a traffic stop resulted in a shooting Sunday afternoon.
Detroit Police Chief Todd Bettison told a Monday afternoon news conference that a woman at the center of the officer-involved shooting will not face any charges in connection with the incident. He also said the officer involved in the shooting is under investigation for violating Detroit Police Department policies.
Watch Brett Kast's and Ryan Marshall's video reports below:
Monday's update contradicts some of the information the chief shared with reporters at the scene Sunday. At the time, it was believed the woman was likely facing multiple charges. After reviewing video, Bettison said the woman is free and clear, while the officer could be charged.
“As I reported out yesterday, I had not seen the video. I was going off preliminary information," Bettison said.
Related video: Bettison says policy violations under investigation in officer-involved shooting
The shooting took place following a traffic stop and a short police chase on Sunday afternoon in Detroit. It happened just after 3 p.m. in the area of McNichols and Sherwood, just west of Van Dyke on the city's east side.
Bettison said Monday that the woman was driving a Dodge Durango when she was pulled over for speeding, tinted windows and an obscured plate.
Bettison held the news conference after reviewing the footage from the body-worn camera of the officer involved in the shooting. He says it shows the woman turned over her driver's license and that her insurance was on her phone. Bettison also said the woman "strongly disagreed" with the reasons for the traffic stop and asked for a supervisor multiple times while the officer was standing at her vehicle.
During the confrontation, Bettison says the officer asked for backup at the scene. Once it arrived, Bettison says the officer opened the woman's door and attempted to pull her out. One of the responding backup officers pepper-sprayed the woman through the open door, at which point, Bettison says, the woman drove off, and the police chase occurred. It ended when officers boxed the woman in the parking lot of DPD's metro base. The officer who initially stopped the woman got out of his car, Bettison says, and demanded the woman stop.
RAW VIDEO: Detroit police chief speaks on officer-involved shooting
Bettison says the woman tried to drive out of the box, which is when the officer opened fire, shooting multiple times into the woman's car. She was hit six times. Officers rendered aid at the scene, and medics were called. She was taken to the hospital and has since been released.
“We heard sirens going off,” John Montgomery said. The shooting happened directly in front of his home.
“We didn't think much about it because we thought they kept going, then all of a sudden… we heard pow, pow, pow, pow and I said it sounded like some shots.”
Montgomery and his wife Geneva were home at the time.
“When we heard the sirens and then the shots, I kind of figured it might have been a police-involved shooting,” John Montgomery said.
Bettison says the woman was taken from the hospital to the Detroit Detention Center, and he ordered her released from that facility Monday afternoon.
Bettison says the officer, who has been on the force for a year and nine months, is under investigation for violating several Detroit Police Department policies. He also said he will go to the Board of Policy Commissioners to request the immediate suspension of the officer.
Late Monday, Chair Eva Garza Dewaelsche issued the following statement on behalf of the Board of Police Commissioners:
The Board is expecting Chief Bettison's request for the suspension without pay of the officer involved in Sunday's shooting of a female driver, based on the Chief's statement today that there were several policy violations committed during the incident.
There is no Board meeting this Thursday due to training. The public can expect the Chief's request to suspend the officer on a Thursday agenda in November.
Bettison says among the policies the officer is believed to have violated are DPD's policy against pursuing a vehicle solely for a traffic violation, the DPD policy against boxing in a vehicle, and the DPD police against firing into a car unless it is an extreme situation where life is at stake.
“We do not shoot at moving vehicles unless it is an extreme circumstance where life is in jeopardy,” Bettison sad.
The internal investigation is being led by the homicide task force, which is led by Michigan State Police.
Bettison told the Monday news conference that he believes if a supervisor had been called to the scene, he did not think the shooting would have occurred.
Bettison also said the details of the case will be submitted to the Wayne County Prosecutor's office for review and possible charges. He also said that once the prosecutor's office review is completed, the video from the incident will be made available.
