A young woman celebrating her 25th birthday over the weekend was tragically killed when she apparently hugged an off-duty Detroit police officer at a house party and his service revolver accidentally went off.
The Detroit Free Press reports that, Adaisha Miller–who would have turned 25 today–“hugged the officer — whose name has not been released — from behind as he was dancing, and the gun discharged,” according to police, with the bullet puncturing her lung and heart. The incident occurred about 12:30 a.m. on Sunday, and she died after being transported to the hospital.
The Free Press adds that according to a police spokeswoman cops in Detroit “have the option of carrying a gun off-duty but there is no requirement for them to be armed.”
A lawyer for the Detroit police officer’s union called it a freak accident and indicated that the weapon in question, a departmental-issued 40-caliber Smith Wesson semiautomatic pistol, was covered by the officer’s shirt, in a holster inside the officer’s waistband.
The officer has been placed on administrative leave/administrative duties while both the police department’s internal affairs unit and the Wayne County Prosecutor’s office conduct probes into the incident according to FNC . Investigators as yet have no explanation as to why the gun fired. At this stage, it’s too early to tell if authorities will file charges against the officer.
Miller’s grieving parents among other things want to know why the officer needed to carry a gun at a party with his relatives.
Here is Fox Detroit’s coverage of this horrible incident: