Mob attacks Detroit first responders, damaging fire truck and preventing EMS from assisting fatal car crash victims quickly
A horrific car crash in Detroit led not only to the death of the driver but a vicious attack on the first responders who showed up to help.
Between 2 and 3 a.m. on Monday morning, Detroit dispatch received a report that a GMC Terrain SUV had crashed into a building near 7 Mile Road and Terrell Avenue. A dispatcher indicated that two people were “possibly trapped” inside the vehicle and needed aid quickly.
Firefighters, medics, and other first responders arrived on the scene “really fast,” according to Shawn Ley of WDIV-TV. However, they were prevented from accessing the mangled vehicle and the people trapped inside by a large crowd that had gathered in a parking lot nearby.
For some reason, members of the mob were angry at the first responders and began throwing rocks and other objects at them. At one point, someone from the crowd even reportedly tore a piece of equipment off of a fire truck and used it to smash the fire truck’s windshield.
Firefighters therefore contacted police to assist with crowd control so that they could reach the crash victims. By the time first responders managed to reach the vehicle, the driver had passed away. Whether immediate medical intervention could have saved the driver’s life is unclear.
The passenger’s condition is unknown, though there have been no reports of a second death in the crash. The identities of the passenger and driver are either unknown or have not been released. No first responders were injured in the incident.
Exactly why the crowd was angry with first responders is not known either. WDIV’s Shawn Ley gave a possible explanation for the mob’s behavior, but in so doing, seemed to contradict the rest of his reporting.
First responders “got to that car through the crowd, and that’s when one of the people in the car passed away,” Ley told WDIV news anchors. “So in some respects, some people in the crowd then blamed EMS and fire for that [death] and turned on them.”
Yet Ley’s report claimed that the crowd started attacking before firefighters and medics could reach the vehicle. While it is possible that members of the crowd already knew the driver had died by the time first responders arrived, it’s unclear why they would then blame first responders for the driver’s death if they arrived at the scene as quickly as Ley reported they did.
Whatever the mob’s motive for going on the attack, Fire Commissioner Chuck Simms issued a statement begging Detroit residents to “cooperate” with first responders and “not distract them when they are delivering medical care to their fellow citizens.”
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