Wayne County Deputy Fired Upon During I-94 Surveillance Operation; One Suspect in Custody, Two Still at Large

A July 14 surveillance operation tied to a 2022 attempted-murder case erupted into gunfire on eastbound I-94 near Moross Road in the Harper Woods area when shots were fired at a Wayne County sheriff's deputy in an unmarked vehicle at approximately 9:30 a.m. The deputy's vehicle was struck by gunfire, but the deputy was not injured. Eastbound I-94 was closed for at least two hours as investigators responded, disrupting a critical commuter artery in eastern Wayne County. One suspect, 20-year-old Detroit man Ashton James Ruffin, was arrested shortly after the shooting, and a firearm was recovered. Rajena LaMartique Linson, 25, was arrested on July 17, 2026, and one suspect remains unidentified and at large as of July 19, 2026.

The deputy was conducting a rolling surveillance operation as part of the Wayne County Sheriff's Violent Crime Reduction Initiative, a multi-agency effort involving the Wayne County Sheriff's Office, Michigan State Police, and Detroit Police. The operation was specifically targeting Linson, who was wanted on an outstanding 2022 assault-with-intent-to-murder warrant. Linson was wanted for allegedly luring a woman to a bar in Eastpointe on Jan. 31, 2022, beating her, running her over with a vehicle, and leaving her to die in freezing temperatures; the victim survived but was critically injured.

Linson was inside the vehicle during the I-94 incident but did not fire the weapon. Ruffin allegedly fired a handgun out of the driver's-side window of his vehicle at the unmarked deputy's car before driving off on eastbound I-94 near Moross Road. The suspects abandoned their Jeep Grand Cherokee on the freeway in Harper Woods and fled on foot into residential areas, prompting law enforcement searches in nearby streets.

Authorities have not disclosed why the task force chose to conduct a rolling surveillance operation on a busy weekday-morning freeway rather than arresting Linson at a less public location, nor has any agency announced whether an operational review will examine the decisions that led to freeway gunfire.

Wayne County Sheriff Raphael Washington said, "One suspect was taken into custody, two others were being sought, and investigators were pursuing a search warrant while assessing that the remaining suspects did not pose an immediate danger to the community." Wayne County Sheriff Raphael Washington said, "The deputy had been conducting surveillance as a follow-up on a violent crime investigation, and while authorities continue to search for two additional suspects, Michigan State Police is leading the case and officials do not believe there is a threat to the public."

Ruffin was charged with assault with intent to murder, assault with intent to do great bodily harm, discharging a firearm from a vehicle, carrying a concealed weapon, two counts of resisting arrest, and five counts of felony firearm. Ruffin is scheduled to be arraigned in Harper Woods district court via videoconference. Michigan State Police is leading the investigation into the shooting. Law enforcement stated there is no threat to the public from the outstanding suspect.

Eastern Wayne County residents who use the I-94 corridor daily are entitled to answers about what protocols governed this surveillance, why it was conducted on a packed freeway, and what review will ensure future operations weigh public safety against enforcement tactics.