A Middleville man was arrested Monday by Michigan State Police from the Wayland post after being shot at the Thornapple Valley Church parking lot in Barry County.
Authorities said the 36-year-old man brandished what later was determined to be an Airsoft pistol and refused to drop it after repeated commands from police. He is still hospitalized at Borgess Hospital in Kalamazoo with non-life threatening injuries, but will be lodged on the four felony warrants once he is released
The Barry County Prosecutor’s Office and Sixth District Investigative Response Team continue to investigate the incident.
Troopers said they had received information that the suspect, who was wanted on four felony warrants, was in the parking lot of the Thornapple Valley Church at approximately 6:30 p.m. Monday. When the trooper drove into the parking lot, the suspect attempted to leave in his vehicle. The trooper blocked the suspect vehicle with his patrol car at which time the suspect exited his vehicle and displayed a pistol.
While this is a troubling event, I was pleased to see the MSP Officer who shot the man used his training and wounded the person rather than shooting the man resulting in a lethal wound and finding the air soft gun after the fact.
I believe your assessment of the situation is faulty. Any time a weapon is drawn by a law officer it is to defend his/her life from lethal force. I believe his training did kick in, and he missed “center mass” by mistake. The perpetrator was lucky the officer “missed”, otherwise he would be in the morgue instead of a hospital bed.
Drawing an “air soft” weapon and brandishing it was an act of a desperate and sick person, maybe he wanted “suicide by cop” instead of wounding?
Hopefully, he turns his life around and gets a second chance at life and to contribute to society in a positive manner. With 4 felony warrants, he has much to amend. May he get the help he needs to do so.