Detroit police sergeant suspended for not responding to fatal cop shooting

A Detroit police sergeant was suspended Monday on allegations that he sat in his car and failed to respond to a shootout that killed one police officer and injured another.

Detroit Police Chief James Craig told reporters that the sergeant "sat in his scout car a block away while you could hear people screaming ‘officer down’ on the radio."

An internal investigation is underway to try to determine why the 12th Precinct sergeant didn’t respond to the shooting last week at a home on Wyoming near Chippewa on Detroit’s west side.

A 28-year-old man is accused of shooting two Detroit officers who were responding to a reported home invasion. Officer Rasheen McClain died in the shooting.

Craig said the sergeant’s explanation for sitting in his car doesn’t add up.

“His response was that he was sitting in his car a block away waiting to see if the suspect ran his way,” Craig said. “But that’s not acceptable when there’s an officer down.”

Craig declined to name the sergeant but said he’s held that rank for about a year-and-a-half.

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