Police: Man shot and killed by deputies in Eaton County fired at them first
CHARLOTTE — A man who was shot and killed by police in a rural part of Eaton County on Jan. 11 had threatened to get in a shootout with officers and fired a weapon at deputies after they forced his vehicle off the road, the Eaton County Sheriff's Office said.
Three members of the sheriff's department were involved in the incident, and officials identified them as Lt. Preston Dahlgren and deputies Shelby Studley and Randi Lane. The sheriff's department on Friday also released video footage from the incident.
The fatal shooting of Garrett Roger Freeman, 33, happened in the area of St. Joe Highway and Gates Road, near Sunfield in Roxand Township.
Freeman's name was not released until earlier this week, and Friday's news release included the first substantive update about events leading up to the shooting more than two weeks ago.
Those events began on Jan. 9, when Charlotte police responded to a domestic assault call in the 500 block of North Cochran Avenue, the release said. During that incident, Freman reportedly "rammed his car into the victim's vehicle and came dangerously close to her house," police said.
The sheriff's department learned of the incident the next day, according to Friday's news release. Officials said Freeman "claimed he was ready for a shootout with the police and stated he was in possession of over 100 rounds of ammunition." Officials also noted that Freeman had "mulitple handguns" registered in his name. The release did not say to whom Freeman made the claims about getting in a shootout with police.
On the day of the shooting, the county's 911 call center told deputies Freeman claimed he was headed to the same house on Cochran Avenue, "expressing his intent to start shooting before police arrived," the release said.
A deputy spotted his truck, which was pulling a trailer, shortly after 1 p.m. and tried to make a traffic stop, but Freeman sped off, leading to a brief road chase, according to the release. The chase ended when a deputy managed to force Freeman's truck off the road, where it became stuck in snow, it says.
Freeman ignored commands to raise his hands and eventually fired on officers with a semi-automatic handgun, officials said.
"In response, the deputies on the scene returned fire," the release said.
Freeman was taken to Sparrow Hopsital, where he was pronounced dead, officials said. Freeman's handgun was recovered and turned over to state police, who are investigating the shooting and have all of the evidence, they said.
The officers involved in the shooting are on paid adminsitrative leave pending the outcome of the state police investigation, officials said previously.
The sheriff's department will do a full internal investigation once the state police investigation is finished, according to the release.
Michigan State Police have not commented on the incident.
Contact Ken Palmer at kpalmer@lsj.com. Follow him on Twitter @KBPalm_lsj.
This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: Officials: Man killed by Eaton County deputies fired on police first
