A man who drove through a Detroit crime scene where five people were shot and one person died in a car crash was fatally shot by police following a pursuit and gun battle, the city’s police chief said.
The shooting of the 27-year-old man was caught on police video, snippets of which were shown to reporters at a news conference.
More than a dozen shots appeared to have been fired by the man and officers.
“Clearly, this was a suspect … focused on one thing and one thing only — to kill a police officer,” Chief James Craig said.
Officers were investigating the earlier shooting, which occurred about 10:50 p.m. on the city’s west side, when the man drove by in an SUV and fired a shot that struck a police vehicle, Craig said.
Officers pursued the SUV, which drove through neighborhoods, downtown, onto a freeway and then into Detroit’s east side at speeds estimated at more than 100 mph (161 kph).
The SUV stopped in a parking lot and the driver got out and fired shots at one officer, who returned fire. He then ran a few blocks before officers in a police SUV caught up. Shots again were fired and the man collapsed.
He was pronounced dead at a hospital. Police recovered a .40-caliber handgun. His name was not immediately released. Police were working to determine whether the man had any connection to the shooting.
Craig said the police video was shown hours after the shooting as part of the department’s efforts to be transparent. It comes amid scrutiny over police shootings across the country.
Chicago police released video from an officer’s body camera that showed him pursuing a 13-year-old boy down an alley on after investigating reports of shots fired. The teen could be seen in the video holding a handgun as the officer yells “Hands! Hands! Show me your (expletive) hands!”
As Adam Toledo turned, raising both hands, the officer, Eric Stillman, fired once, striking the teen in the chest. He later died. A handgun was found behind a fence where Toledo stood before being shot.
Craig said the Detroit police video from Monday’s shooting showed “heroic” officers.
“What you will see are officers running toward gunfire, putting themselves in harm’s way,” Craig said.
