a day ago
Family sues Detroit police, claims woman was fatally wounded by officers responding to block party shooting
A $25 million lawsuit alleges that two Detroit police officers responding to a block party shooting last summer recklessly fired shots into a crowd, fatally wounding a 19-year-old woman.
The federal lawsuit was filed on behalf of Imani Peterson's family on June 3 against the Detroit Police Department and the city. Peterson attended a party on June 1, 2024, in the 16000 block of Trinity Street. Just before 2 a.m., police received multiple 911 calls about shots fired in the area of Trinity and Florence Streets.
The lawsuit alleges that the responding officers entered a dimly lit yard and fired shots "with total disregard for the safety of the many party attendees."
Peterson died two weeks later on June 15. According to the lawsuit, medical examiners determined her death was a homicide.
"The reckless callous actions of Officer 'A' and/or Officer 'B' constitute an excessive force in violation of decedent Imani Peterson's civil rights and her right to life as a 19-year-old woman," read the lawsuit. "As a direct and proximate result of Officer 'A' and Officer 'B' wrongful use of excessive deadly force on June 1, 2024, plaintiff decedent Imani Peterson was struck by a bullet to her abdomen with complications, leading to her death from gunshot wounds."
CBS News Detroit contacted DPD for a statement. The department says it does not comment on pending lawsuits.
The lawsuit accuses the city of Detroit of failing to "adequately supervise, monitor and train its officers" and "deliberately destroying and/or failing to retain evidence regarding this incident."
In November 2024, Police Chief Todd Bettison announced that an officer who responded to the block party was placed on "no-gun status" after an investigation determined she wounded two bystanders in the process. Bettison said the female officer encountered two assailants and fired about five shots, hitting two women, ages 20 and 23, who were unintended targets. One of the assailants was also shot by the officer.
Police said all three people suffered non-life-threatening injuries.
"To say the officers' approach was dangerous would be an understatement, meaning the scene was chaotic. The scene was loud. People were screaming, some were in pure distress," Bettison said at the time.
NOTE: The video above previously aired on Nov. 27, 2025.
