Detroit police shoot Cincinnati man suspected of killing wife, 2 others
Detroit — A man wanted on suspicion of killing his wife and two others in Cincinnati was wounded Monday during a shootout with police outside a motel on Detroit's east side.
Cincinnati police have issued a murder warrant against Chandra Moore, 55, Detroit police chief James Craig said Monday.
Moore had three handguns on him — two revolvers and one semi-automatic — when Detroit police confronted him outside the Rivertown Inn & Suites on Jefferson Avenue, Craig said.
The events that led to the shooting in Detroit started Sunday in Cincinnati when the man allegedly committed the triple homicide and wounded two more victims, according to Cincinnati police.
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In a Facebook post, Cincinnati police said those killed were Moore's wife, Brittany Wagoner, 28; Timothy Dugar, 33, and Andrew Wesley, 35. Wounded were a 17-year-old male and a 51-year-old male.
"The suspect left Cincinnati and came to Detroit," said Craig, who was Cincinnati's police chief from 2011-13. "We got information that he was at the Rivertown hotel, but rather than go in to get him, because there were other guests, for their safety we opted to set up surveillance and wait for him to come out. It turns out, that was the right call."
The man exited his room around 9:50 a.m. Monday, the police chief said, looking around as if he were worried about being watched.
The Cincinnati man had reason to be worried. There were police officers in the parking lot, waiting to arrest him. And there was a surveillance van standing by.
Police aren’t sure which one the suspect saw first, the van or the officers, but he allegedly shot at both. None were hit.
"He saw our officers doing surveillance, so he pulled out a handgun and opened fire," Craig said. "The officers returned fire and struck him several times."
The suspect was in critical condition at a hospital. No officers were injured, Craig said.
The prosecutor’s offices in Hamilton County, Ohio, and Wayne County, Michigan, will figure out where Moore will go next. Craig said he anticipated the murder warrant would take precedence, but said Detroit police would pursue charges on Monday’s shootout.
Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy will determine whether charges will be issued in connection with Monday's shootout.
Craig declined to say how Detroit police learned the suspect was in town.
“This was a very dangerous suspect,” he said. “He was only focused on one thing, and that is to take additional lives.”
During a Monday morning press conference at the corner of East Jefferson and Rivard, Craig credited a sergeant with the department's Special Response Team for deciding to put the suspect under surveillance rather than go in after him.
A representative from the Rivertown Inn & Suites declined to comment on the incident.
ghunter@detroitnews.com
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Twitter: @GeorgeHunter_DN
Staff Writer Charles E. Ramirez contributed.