Group Wants Dearborn Police Officer Suspended Over Fatal Shooting

DEARBORN (WWJ/AP) - A watchdog group wants a suburban police officer who fatally shot an unarmed 35-year-old Detroit man to be suspended.

The Detroit Coalition Against Police Brutality said Thursday that the suspension "is necessary until the facts" of the shooting "are known."

Police have not yet released the name of the man who was killed Wednesday, saying only that a suspect sought in a theft was shot during a struggle with a Dearborn officer after a foot chase in the 8000 block of Whitcomb Ave., near Tireman and Greenfield along the Detroit-Dearborn border.

The man has since been identified by family members as Kevin Matthews.

Sgt. Cassandra Lewis said the off-duty cop sprung into action after spotting the man, who he recognized as a suspect. The man took off running and the officer chased him into a backyard where a "physical altercation" ensued.  That's when, police said, the officer fired shots, which proved to be fatal.

Detroit Chief James Craig told reporters that the officer suffered minor injuries and that his uniform was ripped. Police said the man was being sought on a misdemeanor probation violation.

Johnson said her son suffered from paranoid schizophrenia but he wasn't a violent person. She's also disputing police claims that her son is responsible for a theft in Dearborn.

"If they wanted to arrest him, he would have got in the car," she said. "Got in the car and call me collect to tell me where he was at. That's what he always did."

Johnson admitted her son has been in trouble with the law in the past, but she said it was always for non-violent misdemeanor charges.

"He was not capable of hurting no one, that's the truth, he didn't hurt nobody," Matthews' cousin Joy Green said through tears. "He wouldn't hurt nobody, he wouldn't hurt nobody."

An investigation is ongoing.

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