Officers fatally shoot suspect after he shoots at a police helicopter and shining a laser pointer
By: Michigan State Police shot and killed an armed suspect who they say fired shots first after shining a laser and shooting at an MSP helicopter.
It happened on Terry St. near Glendale on Detroit's west side.
Investigators say the man was holed up inside the second floor of a home where the shots were fired.
According to MSP, the suspect was shining a laser in the cockpit of Trooper 2, a State Police helicopter. That armed suspect also was reported to have fired shots at the helicopter, but it's unclear why. MSP says the helicopter was not hit in the incident.
Investigators say when MSP realized where the laser was coming from, troopers on the ground responded to the home. Troopers inside the helicopter reported being shot at.
"ES team cleared the house for safety purposes before and found multiple weapons and ammunition stashes in the home as if it was set up for some sort of ambush or security purposes or whatever," MSP Lt. Michael Shaw said.
Police say the suspect also fired at them on the ground, and they returned fire, killing the man. The investigation is being handled by the joint homicide task force.
The suspect has been identified as a 33-year-old man from Lincoln Park. MSP says they have determined he was staying in the abandoned home on Terry. Six guns were recovered at the scene, one on the man and five others in the home. No one else was inside the home at the time of the incident. Police have not yet identified a motive.
Following the incident, the police helicopter had to land at Willow Run Airport to be looked at. No damage was found.
Unfortunately, troopers say shining lasers at pilots in the sky is not uncommon, despite being very dangerous.
"Our helicopter, a couple of times a month, we went through a period of time where people were shining lights at aircraft landing at Metro Airport, so anyone who thinks that's a joke or what would happen they're potentially bringing that aircraft down​," Shaw said.
The two MSP troopers involved in the incident are only being identified as a two-year veteran and a nine-year veteran. They are both on leave pending the outcome of the investigation.
Once the investigation is completed, the findings will be presented to the prosecutor for review.