On the evening of November 2, 1987, 22-year-old Detroit police officer Andre Barksdale was killed while responding to a domestic disturbance on Blackstone Street. Barksdale, who had served with the Detroit Police Department for two years, encountered a man actively attacking his six-month-old child. During Barksdale’s attempt to intervene, the suspect gained control of the officer’s service weapon and fatally shot him; the infant was also killed in the incident.

Another officer at the scene witnessed the struggle and returned fire, killing the suspect. Barksdale was survived by a three-year-old son, his mother, two brothers, and three sisters.