Man indicted in April incident where 2 Lansing police officers were shot
LANSING — A Lansing man has been indicted on a federal weapons charge stemming from an incident in which he and two police officers were injured by gunfire during his arrest.
Andrial Ched Ortiz, 29, repeatedly tried to steal weapons from Lansing officers during an April 10 struggle on West Holmes Road while the officers were trying to arrest him, the U.S. Attorney's Office said in a Tuesday evening news release.
Ortiz is charged with being a felon in possession of firearms, U.S. District Court records indicate. As of Tuesday evening, no attorney was listed for him in those records.
The indictment, filed Tuesday, alleges Ortiz possessed two 9mm guns on that day. He fired one of those weapons, injuring one of the officers, U.S. Attorney Mark Totten said in his release.
“Today’s charge reflects our continued efforts to keep the streets safe from the danger presented by those who cannot lawfully possess firearms,” Totten said. “I’m thankful that the officers on scene were able to minimize the damage caused and that everyone is safe.”
MORE: Body of man killed in Lansing Sunday was dismembered; three charged
The incident began about 11:15 a.m. April 10 in the 2000 block of West Holmes Road, just east of Simken Drive.
At the time, Lansing police Chief Ellery Sosebee said detectives went to the area of an apartment building for a follow-up investigation and requested two uniformed officers to help make contact with the suspect, who he said was the focus on an investigation into a violent crime earlier that week.
After a traffic stop, the man − later identified as Ortiz − ran away and was quickly caught, Sosebee said. But during the struggle, Ortiz disarmed one of the detectives and fired the weapon, striking two officers, the chief said at the time. One of the officers returned fire, striking the suspect, he said.
Lansing police released video clips from the incident about nine days later. A slide in the video says one patrol officer was shot and another grazed before a patrol officer fired a weapon. All three people who were shot, including Ortiz, suffered non-life-threatening injuries, they said.
Totten's release made no mention of the second officer being injured.
Michigan State Police were investigating the incident, standard policy for shootings involving Lansing officers. Neither state police nor Lansing police have announced charges in state court against Ortiz.
Contact Ken Palmer at kpalmer@lsj.com. Follow him on X @KBPalm_lsj.
This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: Man indicted in April incident where 2 Lansing police officers were shot
