DETROIT (WWJ) -- A gunman has been shot and killed by Detroit Police following a 13-hour standoff that began Sunday evening at a home on the city's west side.
According to Detroit Police James White, officers responded shortly before 6:30 p.m. to a report of a big fight involving a person with a gun in the 19300 block of Schaefer, between Vassar and 7 Mile Rd.
Police said a 58-year-old man and a 53-year-old woman were having an argument involving a "romantic conflict" in the living room of the home when the woman's uncle intervened.
Someone pulled a gun, White said, there was a struggle, and the 58-year-old man was shot in the leg.
The uncle, along with the woman's aunt, were able to safely escape the home. The woman had run upstairs, and the gunman barricaded himself inside the house with her, police said.
At one point after the standoff began, the chief said the suspect came out onto the porch and said: "I'm not going back to prison."
He then went back into the home and turned off all the lights.
After some negotiation, White said the man agreed to let the woman out of the house.
"We were successful in getting her released. When she comes out, she's upset. She indicates to us that there are several weapons inside the home, that she's upset, that she was sexually assaulted and beaten and pistol-whipped," White said.
The woman was taken to a hospital for treatment while police continued working to try to talk the man out of the house.
Chief White said his department was working through the night and into the morning to try to bring a peaceful resolution.
DPD has multiple units surrounding the home and creating a perimeter to keep local drivers and pedestrians away from the area. A Special Response Team (SRT) was also onsite, along with hostage negotiators and other family members hoping to provide assistance.
"He has indicated that he wants the police to kill him," White told reporters. "He wants to shoot it out with us, he is not going back to prison. And when our negotiators contacted him several times they could hear him racking weapons inside of the home."
Eventually, after hearing a gunshot from inside the home, White said police released a gas inside the home, hoping to compel the suspect to come out.
That's when White said the man emerged from a side door with a gun in his hand, and pointed the gun at a police officer.
The officer fired one shot, White said, and the man was killed.
"Again, not our desired outcome," White said. "Thirteen hour of negotiation,,, Very sad and tragic event, and we're getting treatment for our victim."
Asked about the numerous barricaded gunman situations in Detroit in recent days, White said there are a lot of variables, but they often involve mental health issues and domestic violence.
"We just hope that people choose not to use weapons to resolve disputes," White told reporters. "We hope that people get the mental help that they need. I don't know if this person was suffering from mental crisis; obviously some of his decision making suggests that he might be."
White said pulling a gun during an argument like this is just unnecessary. "I mean, enough is enough," the chief added. "My goodness! Just break up with folks. You don't have to go through all of this because you're having problems...I just don't get it."
White said there will be an internal instigation into the department's handling of this case, and Michigan State Police will be handling the investigation into the fatal shooting.
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