DETROIT – A 20-year-old man took his own life as police served a search warrant on a home on Detroit’s east side.
Initially, it was thought the man was killed by an officer.
“They encountered a male subject who fired one shot at our officers,” Detroit police Chief Todd Bettison said on Wednesday (May 27) afternoon. “One officer returned a shot, returned fire, fatally wounding the subject.“
The incident happened just after 2 p.m. at a home on Lansdowne Street near Moross Road.
Police were executing a search warrant connected to a shooting that happened on Waltham St. on Saturday, where two young men shot up a home.
20-year-old Anthony Boone and his brother, 17-year-old DeMarco Ballard, were wanted in connection with the shooting, and police had tracked them to the home.
However, what was thought to be a police-involved shooting appears to have been a different kind of tragedy.
“After viewing the body-worn camera, which I had not had an opportunity to do at that time, it has become clear that the subject fatally shot itself,” Bettison said on Wednesday evening. “I have watched it 15 times, and it’s clear to me that the subject shot himself in the head with a handgun.”
The footage, which is not being made public at this time, shows officers coming through a bedroom door after escorting two women and a child from the home.
As the officer opens the door, Boone is seen sitting on his bed with a handgun to his head.
As the officer entered, one gunshot was fired.
The officer returned fire, then realized that Boone was already down.
The officer can be heard saying, “I think he shot himself.”
Bettison says that the officer, who was visibly shaken by what he saw, will be on administrative leave, adding that the loss of a young life is doubly tragic because he chose to end it before he faced consequences.
“We see sometimes, and we have seen individuals that when it’s time to pay, they choose another way out, that is, suicide,” Bettison said.
No one else was hurt in this incident, and police are still looking for Boone’s brother, Ballard.
He’s considered armed and dangerous, and police say not to approach him if you see him.
Anyone with information on his whereabouts is asked to contact the Detroit Police Department.