Assault precedes barricaded gunman situation in Redford

Redford Township — An hours-long barricaded gunman situation Sunday in Redford Township that started with an alleged domestic assault ended with a suspect dead by suicide, police said.

Redford police say a woman came to the police department to say she had been punched in the face by her boyfriend, who then fired a gun into the living room ceiling on their home on the 12100 block of Lucerne. That's north of Plymouth Road and west of Beech Daly.

Both the victim and the suspect are in their 40s, Redford police said.

Police say the victim then heard from the suspect, who allegedly said he would set her house on fire.

She got a call aft from a neighbor in Detroit, who said her house was ablaze.

Detroit Fire Department was dispatched to a house fire on the 15500 block of Thatcher just before 6:30 a.m. Sunday and stayed for about 90 minutes, Dave Fornell, deputy fire commissioner, said. 

Redford police went to the home on Lucerne and tried to reach the suspect.

The suspect shut "an interior door of the home," police said, "stating for officers not to come inside," and police declared a barricaded gunman situation.

Shots were fired into the ceiling, and Western Wayne SWAT was called to the scene. After attempts to negotiate, there were hours without contact. 

The SWAT team entered the home, and found the suspect dead. The Wayne County Medical Examiner's Office will determine his official cause of death.

Redford police have not identified the man and did not immediately respond to a request for comment.