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Police believe gunman killed a 31-year-old father days before Detroit officer’s shooting death

DETROIT(Pictured above: 31-year-old Dontez Calhoun)

The gunman accused of killing Detroit Police Officer Rasheen McClain has been linked to multiple shootings.

Detroit Police Chief James Craig said the 28-year-old man should have been off the streets weeks ago. Detroit police haven’t released the name of the suspect yet, but said the department is investigating his role in multiple shootings.

The suspected gunman is connected to the shooting of six people since Sunday. Two people, including Detroit Police Officer Rasheen McClain, were killed in the shootings.

McClain was killed Wednesday night when the gunman opened fire on him and three other officers at a home in the 20000 block of Wyoming Avenue. Officer Phillippe Batoum-Bisse was wounded but is expected to be OK.

Two days before officer McClain and his partner were shot police said they believe the gunman opened fire on two people on Detroit’s east side killing 31-year-old Dontez Calhoun.

A vigil was held Friday for a father of two. Family and friends are trying to cope with the loss of Calhoun.

“Very good dad. Loved his children to death,” Calhoun’s father Gerald said. “Just tragedy. Very unfortunate that it happened.”

Calhoun and his brother, Christian Calhoun were both shot. Christian Calhoun is still in a hospital.

“They took him from his kids,” the victim’s mother Denea said.

The man who is accused of targeting the Calhoun brothers was on the police department’s radar for weeks. He’s accused in three other shootings, including the one that killed officer McClain. Police said the investigation fell through the cracks.

“If they’d have followed up on their lead, none of this would have happened. The police officer would be alive, my cousin would be alive, my other cousin wouldn’t be in the hospital fighting for his life,” the victim’s cousin Laina Clopton said. “It’s really hurting my family because we have never lost anybody in this way.”

The family wants Dontez to be remembered as a loving man who would do anything to help others.

“He was a very good person,” Clopton said. “Very good person.”

The family wants justice.


Calhoun’s family is holding a fundraiser at 4 p.m. Sunday at the intersection of Charlevoix and Seyburn streets.


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About the Authors
Kayla Clarke headshot

Kayla is a Web Producer for ClickOnDetroit. Before she joined the team in 2018 she worked at WILX in Lansing as a digital producer.

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