One of the officers returned fire, injuring the suspect, who fled but eventually was arrested a short distance from the home, Craig said.
The names of the officers and the suspect were not immediately released.
“He really is a hero,” Craig told reporters about the slain officer. “He fought a good fight.”
Numerous police officers — more than 200, Craig said — gathered outside Detroit Medical Center’s Sinai-Grace Hospital late Wednesday, consoling each other and awaiting word on the injured officer being treated there.
People in the home ‘began running out, frantic’ when police arrived
Police had been called to the house around 7:20 p.m. on a report that a man with a gun had invaded the home, Craig said.
The home’s occupants “began running out, frantic” to meet arriving officers, according to the chief.
Four officers entered the home and went upstairs. Finding no one there, they started to go back downstairs when the gunman opened fire on them, beginning the shootout, Craig said.
The gunman, shot by an officer, fled a short distance from the house, where he was apprehended and then taken to a hospital, Craig said.
The suspect was receiving medical treatment, Craig said. Information about his condition wasn’t immediately released.
Suspect was looking for his girlfriend, chief says
Investigators believe the suspect was at the home to look for his girlfriend, Craig said.
“He was angry,” Craig said, adding that he didn’t know whether the girlfriend lived there. “That’s what we know right now in terms of why he was there and why he was acting in a threatening manner.”
Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan said people who “may have been originally targeted” in the home “are out safely.”
“The whole city is with the family of the deceased officer, and … our wishes are with the officer who is … at Sinai-Grace being treated,” the mayor said.
CNN’s Monica Haider contributed to this report.