On a Sunday evening in November 1978, Detroit Police Officer Scott James Larkins, 58, was ambushed and shot in the back with a shotgun as he and a partner were leaving a restaurant on East Jefferson Boulevard and walking back to their patrol car. The shots came from a second-story window of a nearby hotel. The shooter was arrested about two hours later; he had a documented history of mental illness and a stated grudge against police officers. He was charged with assault with intent to murder, later found not guilty by reason of insanity, and committed to a state institution.

Officer Larkins served seven years with the Detroit Police Department and was assigned to the Harbormaster Section. The wound left him with severe, long-term injuries that forced him to medically retire; he lived with those consequences for decades and died on March 9, 2008, from complications related to the 1978 gunshot wound.

Does anyone remember the incident or have information about Officer Larkins and his service that could add to his story?