By Bree Fowler, The Associated Press
DETROIT (AP) -- Chief Ella Bully-Cummings asked for prayers and thoughts to be directed to a young female officer who was fighting to stay alive after being shot during a traffic stop early Monday.
The woman’s partner, Officer Matthew Bowens, was killed in the shootout that occurred after the officers pulled over a pickup truck around 2 a.m. EST.
“I have an officer hanging on for dear life,” Bully-Cummings said. “This exemplifies the commitment and danger our officers face. This is a job that they love, that they do on a daily basis.
“This is probably the hardest thing a chief of police wants to talk about. It’s not anything I would’ve expected this early in my tenure,” said Bully-Cummings, who was named chief late last year.
Bully-Cummings and Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, as well as several officers from the wounded officer’s precinct, spent the morning in the emergency room of Henry Ford Hospital with members of the female officer’s family.
A suspect was arrested Monday morning.
“We already have an individual in custody we believe is responsible. All the evidence is indicating that,” Bully-Cummings said.
Few details were released about the suspect, or the events leading up to the shooting, to protect the integrity of the ongoing investigation.
“We want to make sure the I’s are dotted and the T’s are crossed,” Bully-Cummings said.
Commander Craig Schwartz of the Major Crimes Division said a suspect exited the driver’s side of the pickup truck and approached the officers’ scout car, opening fire on the female officer in the driver’s seat, Schwartz said.
Bowens gave chase while calling for backup on his radio and exchanged gunfire with the suspect before he was shot and killed, Schwartz said. At least 22 empty shell-casings were found at the scene.
Both officers were described as being in their 20s and relatively new on the job. The female officer’s name was not released at the request of her family.
“His family noted that he wanted to be an officer from as far back as they can remember. This is the only thing he wanted to do with his life,” Kilpatrick said of Bowens.
Detroit Police Commander Charles Barbieri said he knew the two officers when they were rookies.
“This is very personal,” Barbieri said with tears running down his cheeks outside Henry Ford Hospital. “Two officers getting shot in the street in the middle of the night. And for what?”