Off-duty Detroit officer, man wounded in highway shootout

DETROIT » An off- duty Detroit police officer and a man were wounded in a shootout early Thursday after the man rammed her vehicle against a highway construction barrier, pinning it there before he left his vehicle and opened fire, police said.

The female officer, who returned gunfire and drove from the scene after the shooting, was hospitalized in stable condition with a graze wound, while the 34-yearold man was listed in critical condition with a gunshot wound, police said, citing preliminary information.

The off-duty officer was traveling shortly after midnight Thursday in her personal vehicle along Interstate 75 on the city’s southwest side when her vehicle was rear-ended by a pickup truck driven by the man, police said. The officer tried to drive away from that truck but the man followed and rammed her vehicle, pinning it against a construction barrier wall before he exited his truck and the two exchanged gunfire.

Sgt. Nicole Kirkwood, a spokeswoman with the Detroit Police Department, said the wounded man is known to the officer, but the circumstances of the incident remain under investigation.

“That’s all we know at this point. It’s still early in the investigation,” she said Thursday morning.