Detroit cop-shooting suspect seen on video chambering round, chief says

DETROIT -- Police say a man who critically wounded a Detroit officer responding to a domestic dispute was seen on surveillance video chambering a round into a handgun as police knocked on the door to his apartment complex.

Chief James Craig tells reporters Monday that cameras also recorded the man going down some stairs and extending the .380-caliber pistol as he opened the building's exterior door.

Craig says the suspect was not involved in the Sunday night assault and battery call that took the officers to the building.

Craig said the person who called to make the report said they would prop the exterior door open so officers could enter. But when officers arrived, they found it to be locked, and began knocking and kicking at it.

That's when the suspect opened the door and fired, officials said. A 14-year police veteran exchanged shots with the man and both fell to the ground. The officer's partner, who graduated six months ago from the police academy, also fired shots at the suspect, "immobilizing" him, and then attempted to drag the wounded officer to safety, Craig said.  

The suspect was pronounced dead at the scene.

The first officer was shot once in the forehead. A surgeon said Monday the injury is "obviously very devastating" and he will likely need to undergo another operation. His condition had "deteriorated somewhat" throughout the morning, the surgeon said.

Craig said it's not clear whether the suspect knew the men he fired on were police officers, but said both were in uniform and arrived in a marked cruiser.

Craig called both officers "heroic."