Thursday, September 22, 2022

Shooting suspect facing multiple felony charges

The 22-year-old man accused of firing shots at police officers from church windows in Westland last week was scheduled to appear at 18th District Court today for a probable cause hearing.

At his arraignment last week on nine counts of assault with intent to murder, two counts of fleeing to elude, one count of carrying a concealed weapon, one count of attempting to kill a police dog and 14 counts of felony firearm violations, Judge Sandra Cicirelli set bond for Stefaun Lefebvre at $750,000. He was remanded to the Wayne County Jail and should he be released on bond, he will be required to wear an electronic tether and remain under house arrest.

All the charges stem from an incident on Friday, Sept, 9 when Lefebvre is accused of entering the Palmer Road Baptist Church in Westland as he fled from Detroit police officers investigating an attempted robbery of a gas station. Surveillance units tracked the suspect from Ecorse to Dearborn and then to a house in Westland. When confronted by officers, the man ran into the nearby church, according to reports from Michigan State Police. Westland and a state police canine unit responded to aid Detroit police. According to police reports, once inside the church, the suspect began firing at officers from several windows on the second story of the building. One round struck the passenger side door of a Westland patrol car and another damaged the windshield of a Wayne County Sheriff vehicle.

Detroit police at the scene returned fire, police said, and the suspect was struck in the hand, either by a bullet or shattering glass. At that time, he began shouting at officers that he was injured and eventually surrendered, according to police reports. He was taken into custody and treated for minor injuries.

No officers were injured in the barricaded gunman situation, according to police reports.