Latest incident in series of armed car crashes in Detroit leads to arrest, police say

DETROIT, MI — State police officers arrested a driver here who reportedly threatened people in another vehicle with a gun as they traveled westbound on I-94, officials said.

This was the third incident in four days (all within a 15-mile radius) in which state police responded to a motorist who was shot or reportedly threatened with a weapon while driving in Detroit.

Victims in the latest incident said the suspect “engaged in a fit of rage with the caller” before “pulling a gun” and speeding away on the highway on Tuesday, June 11, state police reported on X, formerly known as Twitter.

The recipients of the alleged threat noted the vehicle’s license plate number and told authorities that the vehicle appeared to belong to a private security company and was driven by a man wearing a security company uniform, police said.

State police said officers first contacted the owner of the security company before making contact with the suspect, a 22-year-old man from Detroit.

Police seized two handguns from the suspect, arrested him and booked him into the Detroit Detention Center, officials said.

At the time of publication of this report, the case was awaiting review by the Public Prosecutor’s Office.

“Driving is not a competition,” First Lt. Mike Shaw of the state police said in a statement. “There is absolutely no reason to make a minor traffic accident into a crime. It’s just driving, so just be nice to your fellow drivers and we all benefit.”

The reported incident occurred on I-94 near Chalmers, about 15 miles east of a shooting on the highway that left a 35-year-old Detroit man dead on Saturday, June 8.

A day after Saturday’s shooting and about 5 miles southwest, state police reported another incident involving motorists involved in a shooting. A police statement on X said an 18-year-old and a 19-year-old man were treated for gunshot wounds to their arms after they exited their vehicle at the Lodge near McNichol following a shooting on Sunday, June 9, around 1:30 a.m. Police found their vehicle riddled with bullet holes.

Investigators are still looking for suspects in both shootings over the weekend, police said.