A Detroit policeman was critically injured in a gunfight with a suspect April 30, 2017, at the Oakman Apartments on Detroit's west side. Robert Allen, Detroit Free Press
A Detroit police officer was shot in the head and a suspect is dead after a gunfight erupted when police responded to a domestic-violence call at an apartment complex Sunday night on the city's west side.
The injured officer, a 14-year veteran, was shot in the back of the head and remains in "very serious condition" at a local hospital, Detroit Police Chief James Craig said in a Facebook Live video this morning.
The officer and his partner arrived at about 10:30 p.m. at the apartment complex on the 10000 block of Joy Road near Wyoming — where there was no indication of weapons involved — and knocked on a door.
The man, aged 41-45 and armed with a possibly .25-caliber semiautomatic weapon, was shot multiple times when the officers returned fire. He died at the scene.
This is the eighth time a police officer has been "either shot or murdered in the line of duty in the city of Detroit" since September, Craig said, adding that it's "certainly high-risk work that they do each and every day."
He also met with the officer's partner, who's six months out of the police academy.
Asked how officers are doing, Craig responded: "They're hurting, and our community is hurting."
He said police believe the incident is isolated to the one suspect, and they're investigating why he shot at the officers. He also said it's unknown whether the suspect had any prior criminal history.
The front door and siding of the Oakman Apartment building's entrance are marked with bullet holes. The front door handle is wrapped in gauze, and the mud by the sidewalk is mixed with blood.
John Ploch, 59, who's lived in the building about a year, was home when the gunshots went off.
"Somebody emptied a magazine out here and it sounded like somebody emptied a magazine back," he said. "I must have heard 15, 16, 17 shots. I got down on the floor in the bedroom."
He's lived at the building about a year and said "there's a lot of shooting around here."
He said he hopes the injured officer is OK.
Louis Anderson, 59, has lived in the building about five years and said he was passed twice by flashing police cars on the way home Sunday night before he arrived to see police surrounding the building.
"I never thought nothing would happen over here," he said, adding that he's only noticed problems with alcohol and fighting. "Nothing like this." Ploch's front window had been broken out. He said he was vandalized less than two weeks ago.
"Somebody tried to break in," he said. "Luckily, I have my door secured to where nobody could do that. Apparently, they got frustrated and busted up the windows."
He gestured toward the nearby parking lot to a van with nearly all its windows broken out and covered in plastic.
"They busted up the windows in that white van at that time," Ploch said, adding that a crowbar or something similar was used and the police were investigating.
Neighbors said cameras were recently installed in the building, and they hope it helps with the police investigation.
