Police don’t believe officer shooting was ambush

DETROIT — A police officer is in critical condition after he was shot in the head while on patrol near a university campus in Detroit, but authorities said Wednesday he was probably not ambushed.

Wayne State Police Chief Anthony Holt said a suspect is being interrogated in the attack Tuesday evening on 29-year-old officer Collin Rose, whose condition Holt described as “very grave.”

“I don’t believe it was an ambush,” Holt said. “I don’t believe he was specifically targeted” because of his uniform.

Detroit Police Chief James Craig said Rose was on duty around 6:30 p.m. when he radioed to say he was investigating possible thefts of navigation systems from cars and SUVs and that he was about to speak to someone on a bike.

Officers who arrived on the scene found Rose injured on the ground, Craig said.

A suspect who has had several run-ins with police is in custody, but he has not been charged, Holt said. He said no weapon has been recovered and that the investigation is ongoing.

“We’re trying to put the pieces together,” Holt said.

University spokesman Matt Lockwood said Wednesday morning that Rose has undergone surgery and that his parents and fiancee are by his side. Michigan highway officers gave his parents an escort so they could be with their son, Lockwood said.

Holt said Rose is a five-year veteran of the department and much admired member of the department who works in the canine unit.