David Jesse

Detroit Free Press

► Update: Man charged with 1st-degree murder in Wayne State officer's death

Wayne State University Police K9 Officer Collin Rose has died of injuries sustained when he was shot in the head while on duty.

Rose is the first Wayne State officer to be killed in the line of duty. He was the second Wayne State officer to be shot while on duty.

“I am saddened to report that a short time ago, Wayne State University Officer Collin Rose died from the gunshot wound he suffered while working in the line of duty yesterday evening,” Wayne State University President M. Roy Wilson said in a message to the campus community at 6 p.m. Wednesday. “This is a tragedy felt by all of us — Collin and his family and friends, his fiancée, and our campus and community. Please keep Collin and his fiancée and family in your thoughts and prayers. Collin served Wayne State with distinction, and we owe those he left behind our deepest sympathies and our strong support.

► Related: Echoes of the last Wayne State officer to be shot -- Thanksgiving 1977

► Related: Wayne State suspect has history of assaulting cops

► Related: Suspect arrested, officer ID'd in Wayne State police shooting

“Please keep all our police officers in your thoughts as well. Collin is the first and only Wayne State officer ever to fall in the line of duty. Our officers mourn with us, but these dedicated, professional men and women continue to serve us courageously, every day. We can honor Collin’s memory best with our ongoing gratitude and support for all of our officers.”

The 29-year-old police officer was shot in the head Tuesday evening while patrolling an area a few blocks off campus, near Martin Luther King Boulevard and Trumbull, in Detroit's Woodbridge neighborhood when he stopped to investigate a man.

Rose was alone in the car with his two dogs. It's standard policy for officers to patrol alone, police said, It's also standard policy not to get the dogs — which are trained for narcotics and bomb sniffing — out and to use them to control a subject.

It is unclear why Rose was in the area, which is off campus. Wayne State police are also sworn Detroit police officers and patrol the area around campus.

Police have not said whether Rose was responding to a 911 call, which Lincoln Apartments manager, Betty Evans, said she made. She said she argued with a man on a bicycle, who didn't live there, and called 911 when he wouldn't leave the area. She looked outside as an officer arrived to confront the man on the bike.

"He was outside, in front. The officer was trying to get his hands behind his back. We heard a shot and the officer went down, and we heard two more shots," Evans said.

"I feel sorry for the officer. I hate the crime that's going on in the city."

There also had been a rash of car break-ins in the area the day before. Wayne State University police Chief Tony Holt said he didn't know how that factored into Rose's decision to stop the suspect. The suspect, who is not being named by the Free Press because he has not been formally charged, was arrested late Tuesday night.

The suspect is known to the Wayne State police and other area departments. In 2011, he was charged with two counts of felony assault involving a police officer, one causing injury, and pleaded guilty, resulting in a 53-day jail sentence, records show. There also was an incident in 2014, Holt said, although he didn't have details of that.

The shooting is hitting the 65-member police department hard, Wilson said at a Wednesday news conference. Many Wayne State officers, visibly shaken, gathered in the back at the news conference and exchanged long hugs with each other.

Officials painted a picture of a dedicated officer when talking about Rose.

He was a 2010 graduate of Ferris State University and was one credit short of completing his master's degree in police administration at Wayne State. His first job was with the Richland police department in western Michigan.

“Collin is a 2010 FSU Criminal Justice and Law Enforcement Academy graduate,” Ferris State President David Eisler said in a statement. “We ask that you keep his family in your thoughts and prayers.”

Gov. Rick Snyder's office issued a statement late Wednesday, saying Rose was committed to serving others.

"May he rest in peace knowing that Michiganders are collectively mourning his loss and that we will support his family, friends and colleagues to the best of our ability while they grieve," Sndyer said.

Rose had worked and conducted training all over the state, Holt said. He was also heavily involved in organizing memorials for other slain police officers in the area. Members of many Detroit-area police departments showed up at the hospital following the shooting.

People who live near the scene where Rose was shot said the suspect is a regular recipient of meals handed out three evenings per week from the I Am My Brother's Keeper Ministry about a block away.

"He'd just eat his food and took off," said a man who identified himself as Angelo L. "(He would) go outside, smoke a cigarette and just vanish. That was it, just like everybody else that comes down there to eat."

He said he'd seen the man in the area regularly for the past five to six years.

Angelo L. said he was familiar with Rose, who would regularly speak with and help people in the neighborhood, and that he feels "very, very bad for him."

Annette Covington, who was sitting in a vehicle with Angelo L., lives near the scene and said the police broke down her door and raided the home, making a mess and tossing her TV and heater on her bed. She said they don't associate with the suspect, but that "we feed and help everybody in this neighborhood."

A man who identified himself as Thad L. said the suspect had been homeless and living in a nearby park. He said he declined to give his full name because he was concerned people associated with the suspect would come after him.

Contact David Jesse: 313-222-8851 or djesse@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter: @reporterdavidj. Staff writers Bill Laitner and Robert Allen contributed to this report.