NewsRegionDetroit

Actions

DPD Chief investigating after neighbor says police missed opportunities to arrest shooting suspect

Posted at 6:41 PM, Dec 20, 2019
and last updated 2019-12-20 18:41:08-05

DETROIT (WXYZ) — "I'm scared for my son's life. I'm scared for my life," said Amy who lives near the man who engaged Detroit Police in a three-day standoff this week.

Amy, who asked that we not use her last name, said the man has more than antagonized her family.

"He kicked in my basement window," she said.

Amy told 7 Action News Friday that the man has frightened her children by hitting the window with a baseball bat and he once ran naked through their home, asking for help because he believed someone was trying to kill his mother.

Amy said she and her family used to be on friendly terms with the man until he started becoming a problem. She said they often called police when the man would fire random shots in the neighborhood. Sometimes police would respond, she said, but the man never came to the door.

Amy said they were told they have to actually witness him shooting or get video of it happening.

Amy said, by now, she and her family can recognize it's the 45-year-old man across the street by the sound of the shots.

Then, on November 8, several shots were fired into her 14-year-old son's bedroom that is located in the front of the house.

She says the responding officers told her family not to touch anything until a detective could meet with them. She says they waited and she repeatedly called police to find out when they were going to send a detective. One was never assigned.

Instead, the family received a letter from the Detroit Police Department about a week later that stated they are "firmly committed to providing professional service to the Detroit community and all citizens in general."

But the letter went on to say that the department uses a "Solvability matrix" to determine the "assignment and prioritizing of cases."

The letter from the 9th Precinct continued, "based upon the information you provided during the reporting process your report was not assigned to a detective."

"I cried," Amy told 7 Action News. "I felt like our lives didn't matter."

7 Action News contacted Detroit police regarding the handling of prior incidents. The chief said he will investigate and, if true, he will hold people in his department accountable.