After an hours-long hunt Wednesday, police captured the last of four suspects accused of shooting at a house in Ypsilanti Township and firing at an officer during a chase.
Washtenaw County sheriff’s deputies and police from other agencies scoured the West Willow neighborhood and nearby areas for five or six hours after receiving a report of shots fired on Greenlawn Avenue about 6 a.m. Wednesday. No one was reported injured in the shooting.
Officers quickly caught two suspects after they crashed a car into another vehicle on Greenlawn and fled on foot a few blocks from the shooting incident. Two others initially eluded police, however, and were eventually caught in the area, said Washtenaw County Police Services Commander Dieter Heren.
One shot was fired at police during the chase.
"A deputy was shot at, but not hit," Heren said.
Police did not return fire because they were concerned about the safety of others in the area, Heren added.
A gun recovered on Tyler Street in the West Willow neighborhood is believed to be the gun used in the shooting.
The incident began when deputies were called to Greenlawn Avenue south of Ecorse Road in Ypsilanti Township shortly after 6 a.m. to investigate a report of shots fired at a residence on the street, said sheriff's office spokesman Derrick Jackson.
Police were still investigating what motivated the shots Wednesday afternoon. A window of an SUV parked in the driveway appeared to be shattered. Police had it covered. Investigators marked several spots in the middle of the street where shell casings fell.
The suspects attempted to flee in a Chevy Impala, but only made it about three houses away from the home before the vehicle rammed into a parked car. Police say the suspects then fled down the street, across the freeway and into the West Willow neighborhood on foot.
Police initially said they captured two suspects immediately and were looking for a third youth in his early teens. Several people were taken out of a residence on Woodlawn Avenue a block away and questioned during the investigation, police confirmed. It did not appear any of them were taken into custody.
The sheriff's office K-9 unit was at the scene tracking in the area all morning and a helicopter from the Monroe County Sheriff's Office was brought in for the search. Officers from Michigan State Police, Pittsfield Township, Van Buren Township and Ypsilanti all assisted in the search efforts.
Michael Williams said he lives on Tyler Road in West Willow and was woken up by police in his yard and in the adjacent vacant lot.
"I woke up at about 6 a.m. and my house was surrounded," he said. "They were combing that field like they were looking for a weapon."
Heren said investigators eventually identified a fourth suspect and said that as of 1 p.m. all of them had been taken into custody. He could not elaborate on how or where the two were detained, but said it was without incident.
Police did not release the exact ages or hometowns of the suspects. Heren said the matter is still under investigation.