Man in Custody After Firing Shotgun at Harper Woods Police

Nov. 16, 6:50 p.m.

Harper Woods police report that a man is in custody after he reportedly shot at police with a shotgun from inside his residence.  The incident caused several schools in the Grosse Pointe Public School System to be on lockdown minutes before their regular dismissal time.

Harper Woods Police Chief Jim Burke issued a Nixle report at 6:32 p.m. stating that at 2:30 p.m. his department responded to the 20900 block of Lancaster Street after a report of gunshots being fired in a backyard.

According to the report, once officers arrived on the scene, they heard several gunshots being fired inside of a home. Harper Woods police requested additional officers and began to secure the area.

Harper Woods officers heard several more shots being fired inside of the home and requested mutual aid from the Grosse Pointe Woods Public Safety Department. While officers were setting up a perimeter around the home, a male suspect opened the front door and fired several times at police officers with a shotgun, according to police.

Harper Woods officers returned fire and the suspect retreated into his home. The Special Response Team was activated and Harper Woods officers were able to make contact with the suspect by cell phone. After speaking with officers and relatives on the phone, the suspect agreed to surrender. He was taken into custody and is being held without bond, according to the Nixle report.

There were no injuries to any of the police officers or the suspect. Several nearby homes and two police cars were damaged by the rounds fired at Harper Woods officers, Chief Jim Burke reported.

Nov. 16, 4:30 p.m.

Grosse Pointe Woods Public Safety officer, Lt. John Kosanke said that his department responded to a call for assistance from the Harper Woods police this afternoon when a gunman barricaded himself inside a residence in Harper Woods near the area of Lancaster and Harper.

Woods police helped secure the perimeter until the joint Special Response Team (SRT) could arrive, Kosanke said.

Kosanke said that shortly after SRT arrived, the gunman came to the door of the home and surrendered to police.

Nov. 16, 4:18 p.m.

Mason Elementary School and several other schools in the Grosse Pointe Public School System were on lockdown due to shots being fired from a home near the area of Lancaster and Harper in Harper Woods. 

According to a neighbor, the postman reported hearing gunshots.

The gunman was barricaded inside the home and police surrounded the residence.

No one was injured and police have a man in custody, according to Grosse Pointe Woods City Administrator Al Fincham.

Fincham was on the scene with police.

Harper Woods police had no comment Friday afternoon but indicated they would release a statement on the incident later.

The school lockdowns—Grosse Pointe North and Parcells also were on lockdown briefly Friday afternoon—have been lifted.

Grosse Pointe Woods Public Safety office issued a Nixle report asking people to avoid the area due to police activity.

As more details become available, Patch will update this story.