We know more about what happened in a police-involved shooting in Benton Harbor early Tuesday morning.
Department of Public Safety Chief Daniel McGinnis Jr. held a press conference about the shooting on the 900 block of Pavone Street.
McGinnis says police got the call at 2:12 a.m. about someone being held at gunpoint. He stated police had no issues at the residence until after after officers stepped out.
Officers arrived to area, approached suspected house, made contact w/ residents who said they didn’t call police; had no problem.
— Taylor Popielarz (@TaylorPopielarz) October 18, 2016
“Four or five shots” shot at the residence, according to McGinnis. Officers took cover and traded shots with the 28-year-old suspect, who McGinnis confirmed was black and riding a bicycle. He affirmed that the suspect was shot and killed and that no officers were hurt.
Names of the people involved are expected to be released “very likely today”, according to McGinnis. Three of the four officers had functional body cams. The fourth officer’s body cam broke last week, according to McGinnis.
It’s unknown definitively whether the suspect was shooting at the officer or the residents inside the house, according to McGinnis, who feels there was “an intention to hurt somebody at that residence” and was not an ambush on officers. He did state an officer felt he was being shot at.
Body cam video from the officers will be released after the suspect’s family sees it first, according to McGinnis. After that, McGinnis said that the suspect did have a criminal history.
Michigan State Police detectives are investigating, which McGinnis says is better than his department investigating the shooting itself. The officer that fired the killing shot is white and is on paid administrative leave.