Federal Officer Shot Dead in Detroit

By ED GARSTEN Associated Press Writer

September 22, 2001, 3:18 AM EDT

DETROIT -- Even with heightened security after last week's terrorist attacks, authorities say a man was able to carry a loaded handgun into the lobby of a federal building housing FBI offices and fatally shoot an officer at a security checkpoint.

The gunman was hospitalized after at least one officer returned fire, FBI spokeswoman Dawn Clenney said.

"This is a public building, and you have to allow the public access to do business," FBI Special Agent Hank Glaspie said Friday night outside the federal building where Federal Protective Services Officer Ronald C. Sheffield, 36, was killed.

"Our prayers go out to the family of Mr. Sheffield," Glaspie said. "He quietly went about protecting us on a daily basis."

Sheffield was at the security checkpoint, about 15 feet from the door, Friday afternoon when the gunman walked into the lobby, put a paper bag containing a handgun on a counter by the metal detector and asked if he could bring it inside, Clenney said. When he was told no, he reached into the bag and fired, she said.

Joel Vander Linden said he was waiting in line at the metal detectors when he heard a man behind him "complaining loudly ... cussing." He said he had turned away and was walking to the elevators when he heard the gun fire.

Sheffield was not wearing a bulletproof vest and was hit once in the chest, police said.

The shooting occurred two blocks from a federal courthouse where a hearing was held earlier in the day for three men arrested in Detroit during an FBI investigation into a man on the agency's "watch list." A judge ordered the men detained.

Clenney said there was no indication that the shooting was related to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

The downtown building is home to the Detroit office of the FBI and also houses agencies including the IRS, Veterans Affairs, the National Labor Relations Board and Housing and Urban Development. U.S. Sen. Carl Levin also maintains an office there.

The federal building already had metal detectors in use, but the officers have been cautious and aware since the terrorist attacks last week, Glaspie said.

The building was evacuated after Friday's shooting and closed for the rest of the day.

The Detroit Free Press said police identified the gunman as David Serra, 28, of Chesterfield Township, north of Detroit. He was shot in the stomach, arm and leg by two other Federal Protective Services officers, police said. Copyright © 2001, The Associated Press

-- Anonymous, September 22, 2001

Answers

The Detroit Free Press said police identified the gunman as David Serra, 28, of Chesterfield Township, north of Detroit. He was shot in the stomach, arm and leg...

The gunman must be mentally unstable to try this at this time. And no, I don't think the other officers returned fire with prejudice, do you?

Curiously, the article doesn't say that the gunman was arrested. Hospitalized, yes, but not arrested. Are we supposed to assume?

I wonder why the building was evacuated.

-- Anonymous, September 22, 2001

BF, I don't know the particulars of this case, but I can tell you that:

1) There are a number of mentally unbalanced people who live in and around the Detroit area.

2) There is still a heavy MAFIA influence up there.

3) It is cheap and easy to hire the mentally unbalanced for courrier work, arson, and other chores of that nature.

Watch for more stories like this to emerge from in and around the Detroit area as we get closer to Halloween. You'll also see the number of fires with unknown causes increase as fed-up business owners torch their properties, blame the fires on gangs, and then try to collect the insurance. The night before Halloween, Devil's Night, used to be the traditional night for that, but now the season seems to have been expanded from late September to Mid-November.

-- Anonymous, September 22, 2001