Mental illness and police • Drunk driver sentenced in deaths of woman and K9 • Whitmer-Dixon debate

FRIDAY NEWS HIT - It took seven hours before police managed to take a suspect into custody following a standoff in a Dearborn hotel Thursday evening. One person died from a gunshot sustained earlier in the day.

After crisis negotiators were able to get the armed 38-year-old suspect to peaceful surrender, Dearborn Police Chief Issa Shahin said gave a familiar description of the shooter. 

"The … suspect has a history of mental illness and drug abuse," the chief said. "There is a broader issue here than what is just happening in the city of Dearborn. The combination of mental illness and access to firearms."

Dearborn's mayor further elaborated on how mental health issues had been intertwined with tragedies in recent weeks.

"We know there are broader issues ongoing as they pertain to mental health illness that's ongoing not only in our region, but in our state and in our country as well as accessibility to firearms," Abdullah Hammoud said. "We're hoping those in the right position of power do act on this. It's about time that we had solutions."

The danger of someone in the midst of a mental health crisis became one of the leading stories this week after Detroit police shot and killed a 20-year-old man who was armed with a knife and suffering his own kind of mental break. 

Detroit Police Chief James White said Porter Burks had a pocket knife when he began charging police, who returned fire and shot 38 rounds in three seconds. On Thursday, family of Burks announced through their attorney they would be suing the Detroit Police Department and the officers who shot the man.

Geoffrey Fieger chastised the chief for how the department handled the shooting - referring to the officers as a ‘firing squad’ who 'executed Burks. However, the Southfield attorney did admit he agreed with White on one thing: police should not be in charge of managing someone in the middle of a mental health break.

"I think he is correct and tried to communicate to the public an essential problem that occurs in the state and many others," he said, referencing the state's closure of its mental health facilities when he ran for governor decades ago. "The state of Michigan at that time defended mental health."

Former Gov. John Engler closed most of the state's remaining mental health facilities following decades of shuttering the institutions intended to care for individuals with mental health problems. As of 2016, Michigan had only 7.3 beds per 100,000 people intended for psychiatric care.

Often times, the first individuals to come into contact with someone suffering a mental break are police. While it can require years of training and education to learn how to deescalate situations involving someone in the midst of a crisis, police often are not the people with that experience.

The outcomes can sometimes be fatal.

The mixture of accessibility to firearms has only exasperated the problem that police come face-to-face with. In a statement made Thursday, Detroit Police pushed back on Fieger's accusations he made during his press conference before lamenting that "our officers are having to confront a growing number of cases of armed individuals suffering from mental illness in our community."

Whitmer and Dixon agree to second debate

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and her Republican opponent Tudor Dixon have agreed to a second televised debate in October. Whitmer and Dixon will appear at Oakland University in Rochester for a 7 p.m. debate on Oct. 25. The first debate is scheduled for Oct. 13 in Grand Rapids.

Dixon had previously lobbied for her and Whitmer to debate before absentee ballots were submitted, arguing that voters deserved to see the two candidates discuss issues before a vote is cast.

"Gretchen Whitmer continues to hide from voters and delayed another debate to the end of this month. While I’m disappointed in her inability to debate before absentee ballots went out, I’m eager to know where she stands on every issue," Dixon wrote on Twitter in response to the announcement. 

The Oct. 13 debate will be hosted by WOOD-TV while the Oct. 25 debate will be hosted by WXYZ, WXMI-TV, WSYM-TV, and the Oakland University Center for Civic Engagement.

Get more 2022 Midterm Election coverage here.

Drunk driver who killed female passenger, police K9 sentenced

A drunk driver responsible for the death of a 28-year-old female passenger and a Michigan State Police K9 Trooper last year learned his fate in court Thursday. Henri Brown pleaded guilty and was given a plea deal of 17 to 40 years in prison.

Patecia Benson can only look at pictures of her daughter, Sakyra, who was killed last year as a passenger in the car driven by Brown. She had only met the 40-year-old Brown a few times. That night he was drunk and rear-ended the back of a Michigan State Police trooper on the Lodge near Linwood. The crash killed Sakyra and Rex, a state trooper K9 officer.

Patecia remembers July 24th 2021, at around 2 a.m., a state trooper arrived at her west side house. "He said my daughter had been in a fatal accident," Benson said. Patecia says she never met Brown before seeing him in court today, "I’ve never seen him in my life."

Later, it was found out that Brown had five previous drunk driving convictions. There was a passenger in the car who suffered injuries as well as the trooper. Both were treated for non-life-threatening injuries. All agreed to the plea.  But the family today remembers Sakyra.

Read more here. 

Memorial planned for beloved Garden City High School coach

A memorial is planned this weekend in honor of a longtime Garden City High School coach who died last month. Athletes Barry Patterson coached will gather at the high school field at 5:30 p.m. Sunday to say goodbyes to him.

Patterson's Garden City coaching career started in the 1980s when he was the assistant coach of the softball and girls' basketball teams. He would move up to the head coach role of both teams and would serve as a longtime coach of the softball team until he retired over the summer. Patterson died Sept. 26.

His coaching record includes dozens of championships and even a state championship. He also coached other teams in addition to the high school team. Players attending the memorial are asked to wear their varsity jackets over white shirts, if possible. Attendees are also asked to bring orange, blue, and white balloons. Flowers are also encouraged. 

Donations in Patterson's memory can be made to the Barry Patterson Memorial Scholarship, which will support female athletes. 

Find more here.

Grosse Pointe Park plans parking lot amid objections

Plans to build a parking lot near the Kercheval Business District in Grosse Pointe Park are rolling forward. The planning commission voted to recommend the rezoning of four parcels on Wayburn and Maryland streets where homes stood just weeks ago.

Residents say the parking lot will tank property values, drive up the chances that accidents occur, and attract rodents. Dumpsters would back up to neighboring homes. Belle Teesdale and Devan Stachecki live next door to the proposed parking lot and say they received no notice when the two homes next to them were demolished a couple of weeks ago—they woke up to the sound of excavators.

"There was no proper fencing, put up or anything," said Teesdale, who lives next to the proposed parking lot. "It was really scary. I have some videos that, it was so close to us, our house was shaking." Representatives for the Cotton family, which is behind the development, told the commission the lot will be attractively landscaped and that additional parking is desperately needed.

Some residents urged Mayor Michele Hodges, who’s on the planning commission, to recuse herself from voting — she heads up The Belle Isle Conservancy. A member of the Cotton family is on the board of directors there. The issue is likely not going anywhere, anytime soon. The Cotton family is reportedly looking to possibly buy more homes to tear down for more parking lots.

Read more about the controversial project here.

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Daily Forecast

In case you haven't already gone outside, it's a far chillier morning than what's been the case in recent days. Though we should see more sun in the coming days, temperatures will stick around in the 50s due to a high pressure system that's moved in.

What else we're watching

1. The Friday Jobs report could have big sway on which direction the economy moves to end the week following a brutal period on the stock market.
2. Detroit's culture department is partnering with the University of Detroit Mercy School of Law to help support locals who are embedded in the creative and culture sects of the city.
3. A Monroe County Sheriff deputy was reprimanded after telling a Black woman he was ‘blacker’ than her. The exchange happened when the woman was struck during an altercation at a liquor store in Lambertville.
4. A Grosse Pointe school board candidate plans to address allegations about her teaching credentials with FOX 2 Friday. A claim by a voter made about Ginny Jeup said she had lied about her teaching certification. Find the latest here.
5. A Detroit-style pizza restaurant rooted in Florida suffered devastating damage when it was caught in Hurricane Ian's path.

Risk of nuclear 'Armageddon' highest since 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis, Biden says

President Joe Biden said Thursday that the risk of nuclear "Armageddon" is at the highest level since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis, as Russian officials speak of the possibility of using tactical nuclear weapons after suffering massive setbacks in the eight-month invasion of Ukraine.

Speaking at a fundraiser for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, Biden said Russian President Vladimir Putin was "a guy I know fairly well" and the Russian leader was "not joking when he talks about the use of tactical nuclear weapons or biological or chemical weapons."

Biden added, "We have not faced the prospect of Armageddon since Kennedy and the Cuban Missile Crisis." He suggested the threat from Putin is real "because his military is — you might say — significantly underperforming."

Read more here.

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