DETROIT (WXYZ) — "I'm angry," said Detroit Police Chief James Craig Friday about an investigation into a drive-by shooting on October 30 that could have led to the arrest of the suspect before he allegedly shot and killed veteran Officer Rasheen McClain Wednesday.
Chief Craig said the people who live in the house that was shot up last month went to the 12th Precinct and gave police information, including a name, on the suspect, but it appears the investigation that followed was "lackluster."
Craig said the suspect had been dating a 16-year-old girl and the house and he was angry that relatives were not letting him see her.
"There should have been more followup made," Craig said. "I have launched and initiated an internal investigation because I felt more should have been done."
And Officer McClain isn't the only life that could have been saved if the 28-year-old ex-con had been picked up on a parole violation after the shooting in October.
Police said they are looking into the possibility that the same suspect opened fire on a vehicle Sunday. The vehicle had been stopped at the intersection of Seven Mile and Wyoming when a man drove up and opened fire, wounding the passenger, a 22-year-old man.
Then Monday, police said the same suspect gunned down two brothers on the city's east side. Dontez Calhoun, 31, was killed. His brother survived.
"It's been hurtful. We have never lost anybody like this before," said cousin Laina Clopton.
On Friday, Laina learned that the man who allegedly killed Dontez is the same suspect who killed Officer McClain. She was also told about the October shooting and the failed investigation that may have followed.
"Hurt," Laina said. "You got to follow up. You got to follow up. You know, if it's somebody giving the police a name and who it is, you got to follow up immediately before they do something to another family member.. somebody else's family member."
On Wednesday, Officer McClain and his partner responded to a house on Wyoming on a report of a home invasion. It was the same house that was shot up on October 30 and the same suspect who had been at large since then was now inside the home and armed with a high-powered SKS 7.62 rifle.
Chief Craig said it appeared the suspect baited officers into the house and, from looking at police body cam footage, maneuvered tactically to fatally shoot McClain and wound his partner.
Chief Craig said a thorough investigation into the shooting at the house over two weeks ago, could have prevented the tragic death of a hero as well as Dontez Calhoun.
"We're not talking about an auto theft. We're talking about shooting into an inhabited dwelling," Chief Craig said. "I have initiated an investigation into this matter and some people are going to be held accountable."
