Apple AirTag leads police to stolen car; suspect shoots at undercover officer who followed tag to Detroit

An undercover Dearborn police officer was shot at while working to recover a stolen car in Detroit on Monday.

According to Michigan State Police, the car's owner reported it stolen to Dearborn police and told them it had an Apple AirTag on it. Police followed the AirTag's location to Roosevelt near Martin Luther King in Detroit.

Related: How Apple AirTags work and why they are raising security concerns

When officers arrived, the stolen car was parked and two males were outside. According to MSP, one of the males fired a shot that hit the hood of the undercover officer's car and then went through the officer's hood of his sweatshirt and into the headrest of the back seat. The officer was not hurt.

"Basically, this round was about one inch from taking the life of a human being, a police officer," MSP Lt. Michael Shaw said.

With the help of Detroit police, officers executed search warrants at two homes in the area. They recovered four weapons and arrested two males in connection with the shooting. A third male was also arrested on outstanding warrants from another department. 

The two shooting suspects are at the Detroit Detention Center, and police will be submitting their findings to the Wayne County Prosecutor's Office. 

"Policing is a scary business right now. We only have to look at this weekend to see the amount of officers that we’re involved in shootings. But, it’s also gun violence is very dangerous for our communities," Shaw said. "Yes, this was a police officer that was doing his job, but it could’ve been you, it could’ve been some citizen that was walking down the street."

Shaw said the shooting also highlights the need to get guns that are used by criminals off of the streets.

"We need to be more responsible in finding out where these guns are coming from and getting them off the street. We seized more guns last year than the year before," he said.
 

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