DETROIT – The mother of Detroit police Officer Glenn Doss Jr. is still coping with the pain after her son was killed in the line of duty.
Nikole Flowers said she knew this was a possibility the minute Doss joined the police force. She was hesitant about her son becoming a police officer.
"It was always hesitation because the world is changing in how people view police officers," Flowers said.
She said she spoke with Doss the morning before he was shot in the head.
"I said, 'Do you like your job?'" Flowers said. "Sincerely I wanted to know. He said, 'I love what I do. This is what I wanted to do.'"
That night, officers came to her front door.
"I just started screaming, 'Is my baby dead? Is my baby dead?'" Flowers said.
They rushed Flowers to Detroit Receiving Hospital, where she got to see her son before surgery.
"All I could think is tell him to keep breathing and it was going to be OK and mommy loves you," Flowers said. "That's all I could say before they wheeled him back."
Doss died from the gunshot wounds, and law enforcement officers from across the nation attended his funeral.
"I appreciated that so much," Flowers said. "I tried to hug everybody who came. I wanted to feel that love. I wanted to receive that because right now that's what's sustaining me."
She said she avoided all the news coverage about her son's death and hadn't seen the suspected shooter until speaking to Local 4.
"I'm very mad," Flowers said. "I'm angry because you don't want to be accountable for what you did."
Decharlos Brooks is behind bars, accused of fatally shooting Doss. Flowers scoffed at Brooks' defense suggesting he has mental issues.
"This is definitely an act," Flowers said.
Doss left behind a 9-month-old and two younger brothers.
You can watch Jermont Terry's full story in the video posted above.
Detroit Officer Safety Solutions fund
Flowers is trying to turn her pain into protection for others. She started the Detroit Officer Safety Solutions (DOSS) fund to help get bulletproof helmets in every officer's hands. She's in the early stages of setting up the fund. You can hear her talk about the initiative below: