A 23-year-old male inmate was fatally shot by a deputy in a moving ambulance while being transported from a hospital to a jail in Detroit, Michigan.
The inmate was being transported from an area hospital to Wayne County Jail when the incident happened.
The inmate was pronounced dead at the scene.
The authorities said he was 23 years old and lived in Detroit, Michigan, without releasing his name, the Detroit Free Press reported.
Wayne County Undersheriff Daniel Pfannes told Detroit Free Press that a “violent struggle” broke out inside the ambulance before the fatal shooting shortly after 4:00 p.m. on Nov. 23.
Inmate is dead after an officer involved shooting on I-94. Ali Hoxie is on scene.DETAILS: http://bit.ly/2zoRuTF
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The inmate tried to disarm a Wayne County Sheriff’s Deputy during an altercation, WXYZ-TV reported.
It’s unclear what he was in custody for.
Pfannes told Detroit Free Press that the inmate was originally arrested by the Detroit police. The Sheriff’s Office took custody of him at the hospital after his arraignment.
The deputy also suffered minor injuries and was taken to a hospital.
The officer, who was a veteran with the Sheriff’s Office, has been placed on administrative duty.
A joint homicide task force with members from the Detroit Police Department and the Michigan State Police are investigating the incident, Pfannes said.
Normal protocol requires inmates to be restrained and secured during transportation. Investigators are looking for answers on how the inmate got into a position to fight the deputy, WDIV-TV reported.
An internal probe from the Sheriff’s Office aims to find out if protocol was followed before the incident.
The incident happened during rush hour near on I-94 at the I-75 junction. The westbound lanes of I-94 were shut down around the site of the incident for nearly five hours.
All lanes reopened at about 8:30 p.m.
Universal Macomb, a private ambulance company, was the service provider for the inmate transportation.
A spokesperson for Universal Macomb told WXYZ-TV that the company’s thoughts are with the driver, the deputy, their families, and all involved.
This is not the first time an inmate transportation went wrong and ended up being fatal.
Two deputies in Kansas were shot and killed by an inmate while transporting him from a jail to a courthouse in June 2018.
The inmate shot Wyandotte County Sheriff’s deputies Theresa King and Patrick Rohrer in a gated area behind the county courthouse on June 15
Rohrer, 35, died shortly after the shooting.
King, 44, died at a hospital on June 16.
The inmate may have used one of the deputies’ own guns to shoot them during a struggle after he got out of the van, authorities said.
The inmate was also shot and underwent surgery. Kansas City Police Department Chief Terry Zeigler said at a news conference that the suspect was in stable condition.
“If I could say something directly to the people in our society, it would be this,” Wyandotte County Sheriff Donald Ash said in his remarks during the funeral service of the two deputies: “I know some of you will remember our brothers, but that’s not good enough. I want you to honor them for what they did for you-that which they needn’t have done.”
The Associated Press contributed to the report.
