DETROIT (WXYZ) — A man was shot and killed by Detroit police after they said he fired shots at officers near a park as kids were playing little league football on Tuesday.
It happened around 7:10 p.m. on the city's east side at Balduck Park near Chandler Park Drive and Canyon Street.
Hear information from police in the video player below:
Officers were on routine patrol in the area when they noticed a man they knew "from a previous narcotics deal," Assistant Police Chief Charles Fitzgerald said. Officers then put his name into the the state's Law Enforcement Information Network system, or LEIN, and they found that he had a parole violation.
The officers parked their vehicle and when they approached the man, police said he pulled a gun out from his waistband and fired at an officer. The officer returned fire and the man died at the scene.
The officer thought he was shot and was taken to the hospital, where it was found he was not injured. The patrol car sustained some damage from the gunfire, which Fitzgerald said could be why the officer thought he was shot.
Video: Chopper 7 captures the scene after the incident below
No other injuries were reported.
The man killed had "a lengthy criminal history," Fitzgerald said.
"Just very, very fortunate. This is a horribly dangerous situation," Fitzgerald said. "I'm just very, very thankful that no one else was injured."
Families were at the park enjoying little league football at the time.
“It happen in like 30 seconds, but people will remember that 30 seconds," Bobby Christian said.
Christian is the president of the Eastside Colts, a youth football league.
Christian says he has been talking to the parents of the kids on his team about what happened.
“These are our babies. A lot of our babies haven’t experienced anything, so this was extremely traumatic," Christian said. "We had a Zoom meeting with our parents and some parents gave us a great idea of saying hey, we’re not sending our child to school today, we’re going to sit back, talk to them about life.”
Christian added that there will be mental health counselors available for the team.
“People are shocked. We live in a great city," Christian said. "The city is not as bad as people think and when things like this happen, it is truly a shocker for my babies and my parents.”
The officer who returned fire is on administrative leave as the investigation continues.
