Man wounded in Detroit officer-involved shooting

Detroit -- A "low priority" 911 call about a man acting erratically at a hotel on Jefferson Avenue ended in an officer-involved shooting that's being investigated by a major crimes unit.

The suspect suffered wounds believed to be non life-threatening.

Around 11 a.m. a call came in to police from a hotel on the 1900 block of East Jefferson, Detroit Police Chief James Craig said. The caller said the man was "acting erratically."

The 911 call was soon upgraded to that of a "possible mental subject, armed with a gun" by the time police responded, Craig said.

Police responded, but the man, believed to be 31, quickly crossed to the south end of Jefferson. The man, Craig said, was uncooperative in his interactions with responding officers, and never removed his hand from his pocket.

The man was hit by a vehicle when he was in the road, but appeared unfazed and remained agitated enough to continue the conflict with police. As police approached to make an arrest, the man allegedly pulled out a 9 mm handgun and fired shots, Craig said. The shots missed the officers and they fired back, striking the man two or three times.

EMS transported him to an area hospital. He underwent surgery Wednesday afternoon.

Though staff at the Detroit Regency Hotel, where the 911 call originated from, declined comment, Kirsten Abbott, a 26-year-old business development manager for Jefferson Chevrolet, saw the incident as it unfolded.

Abbott said "(the suspect) was uncooperative. He kept saying 'my life is on the line,' he kept screaming that."

The suspect "was swerving in s-shaped motions, and cars were trying to avoid him," Abbott said.

Within seconds, shots were fired by the suspect and returned by the police. The suspect became the eighth shooting victim in Detroit in a 12-hour period starting late Tuesday night. Between the seven unique shooting events, four, including this one, took place on the east side.

The Michigan State Police/Detroit Police Department Major Crimes Unit is investigating the shooting, said Lt. Mike Shaw of the Michigan State Police.