Deputies ‘justified’ in deadly shooting: Eaton Co.
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LANSING, Mich. (WLNS) — Eaton County Prosecuting Attorney Douglas R. Lloyd released a statement Friday that Eaton County deputies had been “justified” in their deadly shooting of 33-year-old Garrett Freeman on Jan. 11.
Officer-involved shooting in Eaton County
“To determine whether a person acted in lawful self-defense, their actions must be judged according to how the circumstances appeared to them at the time they acted,” Lloyd said in the statement he released on May 3.
Lloyd wrote that Michigan State Police had completed and submitted its investigation of the incident to the Eaton County Prosecutor’s Office, which then reviewed the incident.
Press-Release-ECSO-OISDownload
Freeman’s family reached out to 6 News, as well, a few weeks after the shooting. They said Freeman had been suffering from mental health issues, and they maintained deputies had killed Freeman unlawfully.
According to the prosecutor’s statement, the following events led up to the deputies’ shooting and killing Freeman:
On Jan. 10, Eaton County Sheriff’s Office issued an Officer Safety Caution email saying Freeman “had recently indicated that he is ready for a shootout with the police,” and that Freeman was known to have several firearms and to live on West Saint Joseph Highway in Mulliken.
The prosecutor said the email followed an investigation of a Jan. 10 conflict between Freeman and his ex-girlfriend, in which Freeman had hit her parked car with his truck and sent her text messages saying he intended to engage in a shootout.
On Jan. 11, the same woman called 911 to say Freeman was on his way to her home in Charlotte, and had threatened to start shooting before police could arrive. Charlotte Police Department officers responded to her home, where they helped her and her infant daughter leave the home for safety purposes.
Information transmitted county-wide by central dispatch included a description of Freeman’s truck. Soon after, ECSO Lt. Preston Dahlgren headed toward Freeman’s home to try to stop Freeman “prior to his arrival in the more heavily populated area of Charlotte.” Deputies Shelby Studley and Randi Lane also headed toward Freeman’s home.
When he arrived at Freeman’s home, Lt. Dahlgren found fresh tire tracks leading westbound from the driveway. About 10 minutes later, he saw Freeman’s truck turn east onto Mount Hope Highway from Dow Road. Deputies tried to initiate a traffic stop by putting on their emergency lights and sirens.
Freeman accelerated before turning north onto Gates Road. As he got closer to the intersection of Gates Road and St. Joe Highway, Dahlgren rammed the back of Freeman’s trailer, causing Freeman to veer off the road and hit the stop sign at the intersection. Freeman unsuccessfully tried to keep driving away, as the truck appeared to lose traction in the snow.
Dahlgren positioned his patrol car perpendicular to Freeman’s driver side door. Deputies Dahlgren, Studley and Lane got out of their vehicles and ordered Freeman to show his hands.
A review of video from dash-mounted cameras from both patrol vehicles, as well as body-worn cameras from all three deputies, “clearly shows that after being given commands to show his hands, Freeman raised a handgun, pointed the handgun towards Lt. Dahlgren’s position, then pointed the handgun towards Deputy Studley and Deputy Lane’s position, and then aimed back at Lt. Dahlgren, before firing his handgun in the direction of Lt. Dahlgren.”
Video showed a plume of smoke coming from the barrel of Freeman’s gun, followed by the shattering of his driver’s side window. “At that time, all three deputies returned fire and Freeman can be seen twisting and slumping onto his right side across the seat of his truck.”
Prosecutor Lloyd wrote in the document that backup arrived on scene shortly after, giving medical aid to Freeman.
During a later forensic postmortem examination of Freeman’s body, Dr. Christopher Hauch identified four gunshot wounds to Freeman’s body. They were on the left side of his head, his left arm and left buttock.
“Dr. Hauch did not identify one specific injury or gunshot wound as the cause of death; rather he determined that the totality of the injuries caused by the gunshots led to Freeman’s death,” Lloyd said.
Lloyd concluded in the document:
“In applying the law to the facts of this particular situation, it is clear that the deputies’ attempt to stop Freeman was lawful. Deputies were provided with information that Freeman was armed, that he was homicidal, and that he was currently heading to Charlotte to cause harm to another person. They were further aware that on the day prior, Freeman had rammed the same female’s vehicle with his truck and had again threatened to use a firearm to cause other harm. This information was sufficient to establish a reasonable and articulable suspicion of criminal activity by Freeman to justify the deputies’ attempts to stop Freeman and further investigate the allegations.
“Freeman’s decision to flee from that traffic stop, coupled with the nature of the complaints, further justified the use of force in attempting to stop his vehicle. Failing to stop for law enforcement, and fleeing from that attempt, is a felony pursuant to MCL 257.602a & MCL 750.479a. Law enforcement is permitted to use reasonable force to effectuate an arrest, and the decision by Lt. Dahlgren to use his patrol vehicle to end the police chase was reasonable.
“…After Freeman’s truck was immobilized, Freeman quickly presented an immediate danger of great bodily harm or death to Lt. Dahlgren, Deputy Studley, and Deputy Lane. Freeman ignored the lawful commands of the deputies, instead producing a handgun and aiming it in the direction of the deputies. Freeman then shot his handgun through his vehicle window and in the direction of Lt. Dahlgren, increasing the threat presented and placing the deputies’ lives in danger.
“At that moment, any person in the deputies’ shoes would have been permitted to respond with deadly force in self-defense or defense of others.
“…Such actions justify the use of deadly force in self-defense by anyone, and so justified the decision of Lt. Dahlgren, Deputy Studley, and Deputy Lane to discharge their service weapons during the incident. Therefore, the actions of all three deputies were legally justified under both the doctrine of self-defense and defense of others, and the unfortunate death of Garrett Freeman was not a criminal act.”
Eaton County Prosecutor Douglas R. Lloyd statement, May 3, 2024
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