Detroit Police Chief Ralph Godbee talks to reporters about the fatal shooting. (Credit: WJBK | myFOXDetroit.com)
HIGHLAND PARK, Mich. (WJBK) -
Undercover Detroit police tried to stop a shoot out in the middle of a Highland Park intersection Monday afternoon, and when one of the suspects refused to drop his gun, an officer opened fire.
"They were in the right place at the right time to break up a pretty ugly scene in midday," said Detroit Police Chief Ralph Godbee.
Ugly is putting it mildly. The shooting happened at the intersection of McNichols and Hamilton in Highland Park.
Undercover Detroit police officers were watching a house in the area as part of an investigation. A clerk at a nearby gas station said he noticed the officers right away.
"I figured something was up because that cop was sitting here forever, like over an hour and a half."
However, in the midst of their investigation, they saw a man with a gun running across Hamilton shooting at a man on the other side of the street. At one point, the men were shooting at each other back and forth across the street, so officers broke their cover and tried to stop them.
"They told him, 'Drop the gun! Drop the gun!" the clerk explained.
However, he wouldn't drop the gun.
"One of the armed suspects leveled a weapon at an officer. By our accounts, one of our officers returned approximately five to seven shots," Godbee said.
One of the men was killed. The other got away.
Detroit Police aren't sure what provoked the shoot out. The officer that fired the fatal shots will be placed on administrative leave until the investigation is complete, but Godbee said it's clear these officers made the right move.
"Detroit police officers, Highland Park police officers doing their jobs in the right place at the right time interrupted what could've been much more carnage," said Godbee.
Police are still searching for the other man involved in the shoot out.
Police don't believe anyone else was hit, but they're checking hospitals just to be sure.
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Detroit Police Chief Ralph Godbee talks to reporters about the fatal shooting. (Credit: WJBK | myFOXDetroit.com)
