DETROIT – A Detroit police officer is in critical condition after being shot Sunday night at an apartment building in the 10000 block of Joy Road near Wyoming Avenue.
Two police officers were responding to the apartment building for a 911 domestic violence call. Detroit Police Chief James Craig said the man who shot the officer had nothing to do with the domestic violence call.
- 11 a.m. -- news conference with Chief Craig -- watch here
The call was made to 911 about 10:45 p.m. Sunday. The two officers went to the apartment complex and started knocking on doors. Instead of dealing with whomever made the domestic violence call, someone else started shooting at the officers.
"We can't tell you at this point why he responded, why he fired at the officers, but he was not at this point in our investigation connected to the domestic violence incident," said Craig.
Officers returned fire
The officer, a 14-year veteran of the force, was shot once in the back of the head. Both officers returned fire, killing the 46-year-old suspect.
The officer was out of surgery just before 2 a.m. Monday.
"There's been some evidence of swelling on the brain. So, the doctors are treating that. It's going to take several days to determine whether or not he's going to start showing signs of improvement," said Craig.
It's unclear where the shooter was before he started firing at the officers. However, Detroit police said it appears he had no connection to the domestic violence case.
DPD prays for officer to recover
The officer who was shot is married with children. Detroit officers have been gathering at Beaumont Hospital in Dearborn trying to comfort each other.
"Continue to pray ... prayer works," said Craig.
The officer's partner was not hurt. He has been with the Detroit Police Department for just 6 months.
The shooter allegedly used a .25 caliber semi-automatic handgun.
There have been eight officers injured or killed in the line of duty in the city of Detroit since September 2016.
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