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Detroit Police Chief Says Security Guard Left Post, Allowing Man With Gun Into City Hall

DETROIT (WWJ) - Detroit's police chief says they're taking a fresh look at procedures at the city-county building after a man managed to make it through security with a gun.

No shots were fired and no one was hurt, but the Coleman A. Young Municipal Center was closed for business most of the day Monday due to the incident.

How does something like this happen?

"In this instance," the chief told reporters Tuesday, "the person that was monitoring that station walked away temporarily — which was a mistake — and it was during that time that the gun came up, and the rest, as we know now, is history."

Craig added that another metal object (not a gun) detected in another bag at the same time may have distracted those guards still at their posts. He said he'll continue discussions with Securitas — the private security firm that operates in the building  — on making sure this doesn't happen again.

gun in bag
Police say this x-ray image shows what may be a revolver in a bag. (credit: Detroit police)

As for the person of interest, whose photo was released to the media Monday afternoon, Craig confirmed that he has been identified.

"We met with him. Unfortunately, there was nothing we could charge him with. We did not recover the gun, he did not acknowledge having a gun...and then our witness, the security officer, could not positively ID (him)," said Craig. "...And we're just not going to make an arrest for the sake of making an arrest."

While an investigation continues, Craig said they're working on better protocol for alerting police and assigned Wayne County Sheriff's deputies when there is a security breach. He said there was a 45 minute delay in notifying DPD of the incident.

"Certainly security is here to manage the checkpoints, but there is a visible presence of law enforcement here. So we want to make sure that that communication is seamless."

The Coleman A. Young Municipal Center reopened for business as usual on Tuesday, but some were not happy with the delay.

Addressing "a judge or two" who disagreed with the chief's choice to evacuate and close the building, Craig said he stands by his decision.

"We're in a very interesting time across this country. We shouldn't forget what happened in Orlando, San Bernardino, just to name a few," said Craig. "As a police chief it is my obligation, responsibility to make sure that everyone is safe; people who work here, who visit here. Safety is number one. And certainly, I made a judgement call..."

On a more positive note, Craig said that — over the last several months —  security detail has recovered a total of eight guns that people were attempting to bring into the building.

"So, generally speaking the job's been done," Craig said.

He said it will be up to Securitas whether or not to fire the guard deemed responsibly for the failure in this case.

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