Suspect in 4th Detroit police-involved shooting was a father of two
DETROIT - Detroit's fourth police-involved shooting on Thursday was triggered by a wild sequence of events when officers traveling toward the intersection of Meyers and Grand River encountered a sword-wielding man in the street.
When they approached the suspect, now identified as 28-year-old Darrien Walker, he charged at the officers almost immediately.
Officers repeatedly demanded he drop the sword. Walker ignored those demands, police say.
"I give a lot of credit to both the officers who showed extreme patience, hoping that the taser would have effect," Detroit Police Chief James Craig said. "It did not"
Sword-wielding suspect in police-involved shooting was a father and interested in martial arts
The suspect in a police-involved shooting has been identified as 28-year-old Darrien Walker. Walker, who was killed after being transported to the hospital, was a father to two children and was interested in martial arts. His girlfriend said he sometimes had a short temper.
Walker is believed to have been wearing protective gear covering his chest and forearms, which shielded him from the volts supplied by the taser.
After the failed attempt at incapacitating Walker, the suspect then threw an 8-inch dagger at one of the officer's face, cutting his eye.
"The officer fearing for his life and given that another officer had already been injured and the suspect did not release his sword, one single shot was fired and it turned out to be fatal," said Craig.
Making sense of it all is Dereka Wilson, Walker's girlfriend and father to their 2-year-old and 9-month-old.
She confirmed he owned a sword and at least one knife and that he was interested in the martial arts and becoming a knight.
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She also said he had a short temper - but the sequence of events shouldn't have ended like this.
"They couldn't have just pushed him down and arrested him. If they were close enough to taze him, you could have just sent him to jail," Wilson said.
After Walker was shot, the suspect somehow managed to make his way into the officer's patrol car. At that point, a man in the area saw the events unfolding and used his truck to block him in, believing there could be other weapons in the squad car that could be used to harm the officers.
After he was subdued, Walker later died in the hospital.
"I'm about to head into work and stuff because I'm the only person who can support my kids. I can't even go to him now and say 'oh, you got to take care of your kids or anything' cause he's gone," said Wilson.