Probationary Police Officer Clarence Roscoe Cummings

Clarence Roscoe Cummings

Probationary Police Officer Clarence Cummings was shot and killed while investigating a domestic disturbance at a home on Saint Joseph Street near Grandy Street between a husband and wife.

Earlier in the evening, the subject had threatened to kill his wife and chased her out of the house by locking her out of their home. The subject's wife went to the local police station with a friend on Chene street for help and was turned down after being told to secure a warrant at Police Circuit Court. On their way home, they approached Officer Cummings and had informed him that her husband had threatened her life and locked her out of her house and he agreed in accompanying her home. As they entered the home through a back porch door the subject emerged from a room and pointed a gun in the direction of his wife. As Officer Cummings drew his service revolver he was shot by the subject. Immediately after the shooting, the friend of the subject's wife summoned a patrol wagon and an ambulance from Harper Hospital. Officer Cummings died shortly after arrival at the hospital.

The subject was found guilty of second-degree murder and sentenced 11-18 years in prison and claimed the shooting was accidental.

Probationary Police Officer Cummings was a U.S Army veteran of the Spanish-American war and served with the Detroit Police Department for six months. He had only one week left in his probationary period when the incident occurred. He is survived by his parents.