Robert Allen

Detroit Free Press

DETROIT — Members of a TV news crew ran for cover as an elderly man they were seeking to interview Monday apparently fired a gunshot toward them, according to police.

The 88-year-old man had been the victim of a July 9 home-invasion robbery, Detroit police spokesman Adam Madera said. The WXYZ-TV crew had visited the home on the city's east side to interview the man.

"After 7 Action News investigator Jonathan Carlson identified himself multiple times, and assured the man inside the crew was not there to harm him, the man eventually came to the door, brandishing a pistol," according to a report on the WXYZ website.

As the crew retreated, and with the photographer still on the porch trying to escape, the man looked at Carlson and fired a shot from about 10 feet away, according to the report.

Crew members ran for cover behind the marked news van, then they moved farther away to hide behind a tree and called 911.

Police came and took the man into a patrol car without any injuries.

"He was really timid about anybody coming to the door," Madera said, adding that the man was taken to Detroit Receiving Hospital for a mental evaluation.

Depending on the result of the evaluation, the man could face criminal charges, he said.

The man had been robbed July 9, when a woman had knocked on his door. The man went to answer, and two men who were with the woman appeared and forced their way into the home. They tied him up and took his cell phone, money and other valuables, Madera said.

The man, who has poor vision because of medical problems, was able to free himself, charge another cellphone and call a neighbor for help the next day, Madera said.

Police seek the three people suspected in the robbery but have only vague descriptions.