Wayne County deputy stabbed while trying to arrest man who cut off tether; Suspect shot in Ferndale

Man, deputies expected to make full recovery

FERNDALE, Mich. – A Wayne County sheriff’s deputy is recovering Tuesday after being stabbed while trying to arrest a man who cut off his tether.

Deputies opened fire, shooting the man inside the home on Webster Street, not far from Woodward Avenue and 8 Mile Road.

The incident occurred Tuesday (April 4) inside a home in Ferndale.

Wayne County Sheriff’s Deputies were part of its tether team traveling to Oakland County, where a man charged with felony assault with a dangerous weapon was placed by the courts on a tether and not held in jail.

The man cut the tether off. Deputies have to keep track of anyone who cut their tethers off.

Deputies were let inside the home then the man ran and barricaded himself in a bedroom.

Sheriff Rafael Washington says the man then emerged armed with two knives.

“We tried to get the perpetrator to stop coming towards them,” said Washington. “They used a taser, and that didn’t take effect. He comes out with knives. We had to use the force necessary so he would not hurt him.”

The sheriff says there was a scuffle, and the taser did not take effect. Ferndale police said that deputies shot the man during the struggle, and then a deputy was stabbed in the leg after the shots were fired.

A neighbor across the street took a video of the incident. You could hear the man being taken to an ambulance, saying he was suffering from a mental health crisis.

“I am mentally ill, and they shot me,” said the man.

“You are now trying to deal with a condition of a person,” Washington said. “You have to deal with it, and they are not right mind.”

The man that was shot was in stable condition.

The deputies were sent to the hospital and expected to recover fully.


About the Authors:

Local 4 Defender Shawn Ley is an Emmy award-winning journalist who has been with Local 4 News for more than a decade.

Brandon Carr is a digital content producer for ClickOnDetroit and has been with WDIV Local 4 since November 2021. Brandon is the 2015 Solomon Kinloch Humanitarian award recipient for Community Service.