Michigan sheriff's deputy killed in shootout with suspect

Lina Portman2 days ago

0 1 minute read

By Julia Cardi

Source The Detroit Journal

A Hillsdale County sheriff's deputy was killed during a shootout with a suspect Thursday afternoon, Michigan State Police said.

The suspect was killed by police officers who found him after he eluded law enforcement for several hours, the agency said.

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Police were searching for Eric Michael Fiddler shortly after 4 p.m. in connection with the shooting of the deputy, who later died from his injuries. Officers found Fiddler in a field near Culbert Road and Osseo Road South around 6:15 p.m., according to a post on X, and he opened fire on officers when they asked him to surrender.

Fiddler allegedly shot the deputy in the area of Beecher Road and Lamb Road.

State police did not release the deputy's identity, age or circumstances of the shooting, saying more information would be provided Friday.

“Colonel Grady and members of MSP are heartbroken to learn of the on-duty death of a Hillsdale County Sheriff's Office deputy, the second officer to be killed this week while serving Michigan residents,” MSP said Thursday on X-Night.

“We extend our sincere condolences to the Hillsdale County Sheriff’s Office and the family and friends of this murdered deputy.”

This is the second death of a sheriff's deputy in Michigan in less than a week.

Oakland County Sheriff's Deputy Bradley Reckling, 30, was killed Saturday while working undercover. Sheriff Michael Bouchard said Reckling, a nine-year veteran, was following a 2022 Chevrolet Equinox belonging to a Rochester Hills couple that was stolen from Red Oaks Waterpark in Madison Heights between 1 p.m. and 5:15 p.m. Saturday.

Reckling was one of three detectives from the office's auto theft unit who scoured east Detroit looking for the vehicle near Park Grove and Schoenherr, about five hours after the theft. He was fatally shot in what Bouchard described as an ambush.

“Prayers to the Hillsdale County Sheriff’s Office as we lost another deputy there,” Bouchard said Thursday night.

Condolences from other Michigan first responder agencies poured in on social media Thursday night.

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