The suspect in a Southgate shooting was in custody Friday, June 20, as police gathered their evidence to submit to the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office, and the two officers hit by gunfire were recovering and “doing OK,” officials said.
By about 1:30 p.m. June 20, the police department was organizing its evidence — which included body camera video of the suspect, witness statements, and a handgun — to submit to the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office for charges, Chief Mark Mydlarz said.
“We have so much evidence to go through, we have not submitted it yet,” the chief told the Free Press. “But we will be submitting it later today or tomorrow, and hopefully will be getting charges this weekend.”
In addition, he said, the weapon will be analyzed for a ballistics match.
Meanwhile, the suspect, Jeremiah Kemp, had been arrested sometime after 8 p.m. Thursday, June 19, at an apartment complex near the shooting and was in lockup, police officials told the Free Press.
Kemp, 20, had been hiding and taken into custody “without incident,” police said, adding that he had been hiding out not far away in the nearby apartment complex of someone he apparently knew.
Just four hours earlier, however, police said they were faced with a man waving a handgun — and later gunfire — in the laundry area of the second floor of the Village on the Park complex on Village Park Drive near Northline Road.
Two officers, who were dispatched to the apartment to investigate, were struck in the legs.
The suspect, the chief said, appeared to be having a dispute with someone else before officers arrived at the apartment complex, but he did not offer a motive for why he began shooting at the police officers.
Joe Marsh, Southgate’s director of public safety, said at a June 19 news conference, that the officers were rushed to a local hospital for treatment, and the suspect, who he identified, jumped out of a window and ran away, setting off a massive manhunt.
By one estimate, as many as 100 law enforcement officers were involved in the dragnet.
“The suspect is armed and dangerous,” Marsh had warned, urging Kemp to turn himself in.
In the meantime, police asked local residents to shelter in place.
They asked if anyone saw Kemp — or someone meeting his description — to call 911.
Police Lt. Brent Newsted on June 20 did not detail the apartment complex where Kemp was found or what tipped detectives off to his whereabouts, but credited the suspect’s arrest to “good old police work.”
Another person, Newsted said, was taken into custody.
But Kemp, he added, was the shooter and “the one we were looking for.”
Contact Frank Witsil: 313-222-5022 or fwitsil@freepress.com.
The story was updated with more information.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Authorities arrest suspect in Southgate police officer shootings
Reporting by Frank Witsil, Detroit Free Press / Detroit Free Press
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