An 18-year-old man is in critical condition and a Detroit officer was recovering after police shot at two teens in a car Tuesday that partly dragged the officer while fleeing on the city’s west side, officials said.
Officers on a routine patrol first saw the two suspects shortly before midnight as sat in a parked, running car that was blocking a sidewalk on the 19300 block of St. Mary’s Street on the city’s northwest side, Assistant Police Chief Charles Fitzgerald told reporters during a briefing after the incident.
The 18- and 17-year-old suspects inside appeared to be stuffing something underneath a seat and refused to exit the car when officers asked them to, Fitzgerald said.
The occupants allegedly backed their car into another vehicle parked in a home’s driveway before driving forward into a DPD patrol car and dragging an officer who had been trying to open one of the doors.
Two officers fired numerous rounds at the pair, citing fears for their own safety, Fitzgerald said.
The suspects drove away, but police found the car a couple blocks away on Prevost Street shortly afterwards, he said.
Police also found the 18-year-old suspect blocks away from the scene with three gunshot wounds, including two to the arm and one to the chest, Fitzgerald said.
The 17-year-old suspect later turned himself in, a Detroit Police Department representative said in an email just before 5 p.m. Wednesday. Investigators questioned the teen and released him pending further investigation.
“We do believe both occupants are members of a local gang in this area,” he said. “I don’t even want to repeat the name of the gang, because it’s ridiculous.”
