A man is dead after police say he entered the lobby of a police station in Michigan and attempted to open fire.
At around 3:30 p.m. on Sunday afternoon, an unidentified 33-year-old male entered the lobby of the Dearborn Police Department, just a few miles west of Detroit. While inside, police say the man took a look around before he pulled a concealed handgun from somewhere on his person and attempted to fire the weapon at the uniformed officer behind the front desk.
Fortunately, the man’s weapon — which was reportedly a stolen 9mm handgun — malfunctioned and did not fire a round. By the time the man attempted to rectify the malfunction, the targeted officer had drawn his service weapon and fired “multiple rounds that struck the individual,” Dearborn Police Chief Issa Shahin later claimed.
The suspect was immediately taken to a nearby hospital, where he ultimately died from his injuries. No officer was physically harmed in the incident. The police station lobby remained closed until late Monday morning, when it resumed normal operations.
“What I want to make very clear is that I extend my sincerest condolences to the individual who lost his life here,” Shahin stated in a press conference.
Police are still trying to identify a motive, but they did claim that the suspect had a history of mental illness.
“I know there are many questions you’ll have in the coming days, and I hope there are more answers,” Shahin said to the press before confirming that Michigan State Police have since taken over the investigation into the incident.
Though it may seem like an open-and-shut case, a local Michigan reporter noted in a short tweet thread that cases such as this one are framed almost entirely based on the police’s version of events and that verifying claims like suffering from “mental illness” takes time and can be challenging.
“Consider the impossible position of the breaking news reporter,” James Dickson wrote. “Guy allegedly walks into police station strapped, gets himself killed[.] Cops investigating say ‘history of mental illness.’ You don’t even know his name. Cops won’t elaborate. Guess what the headline is?”
“Consider how much of the information you read is not verifiable, at the time it is printed,” Dickson added in a follow-up tweet.