Police Chief Todd Bettison said the 50-year-old man pointed a rifle at officers after hours of negotiations on the city’s west side.
DETROIT, MI — Detroit police fatally shot a 50-year-old man Tuesday after an hourslong barricaded gunman situation that began with a reported assault at a gas station and ended when the man pointed a rifle toward officers, Police Chief Todd Bettison said.
The Oct. 27 confrontation unfolded at a home in the 18400 block of Griggs Street after officers tracked the man there following an earlier disturbance. Bettison said negotiators spent hours trying to resolve the situation before police breached the house. The man later emerged into the backyard with multiple firearms and ammunition, according to the chief. No officers were injured.
The incident began shortly before 10 a.m., when officers were dispatched to a BP gas station in the 700 block of East Warren Avenue for a reported felonious assault. Bettison said the man had been involved in an altercation with a store manager and clerk, displayed a weapon and released his dog during the confrontation. The two workers suffered minor injuries, police said. The man had left before officers arrived.
Police later located the man at the Griggs Street home. Bettison said officers were investigating a vehicle outside when they heard what sounded like a firearm being racked and saw the man enter the house. Officers pulled back, established a perimeter and declared a barricaded gunman situation.
Detroit police called in the department’s SWAT team, mental health response personnel and negotiators. Michigan State Police, the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives also assisted, Bettison said. Police made contact with the man and spent hours attempting to negotiate with him.
Officers eventually breached the front door. Bettison said the man exited through the rear of the home carrying several firearms, including handguns and rifles, along with ammunition. He then went back inside before emerging again. The chief said firearms were on the rear lawn when the man picked up a rifle and pointed it toward officers.
Officers fired at the man, and Bettison said the man also fired shots during the encounter. The available preliminary accounts did not establish who fired first. The man was killed in the exchange. His identity had not been publicly released as of Wednesday.
Bettison said information provided by the man’s family indicated he may have been experiencing a mental health crisis. That assessment was based on information reported to police and had not been independently established. Bettison said he had reviewed video of the shooting and described what he saw as disturbing.
The shooting followed more than five hours between the initial report at the gas station and the fatal confrontation at the Griggs Street property. Police said the information released immediately after the shooting was preliminary, and several questions remained unresolved, including the precise sequence of the gunfire.
The fatal police shooting remains under investigation. Authorities had not announced additional findings or released the man’s name by Wednesday, and police said further details would depend on the continuing review of the incident.
Author note: Last updated October 28, 2026.