(WWJ) The Michigan Attorney General’s Office has announced five St. Clair Shores police officers involved in a deadly shooting nearly two years ago will not face criminal charges, following a review of evidence.
ABOVE SURVEILLANCE VIDEO SHOWS THE EVENTS UNFOLD.
Officers shot and killed Theoddeus Gray of Detroit, 29, at the Lakeland Manor Banquet Hall on Harper Avenue between 10 and 11 Mile Road on November 4, 2018.
A k9 officer, a German Shepherd named Axe, was also fatally wounded in the incident.
“This report is part of my office’s commitment to transparency and accountability,” Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel said in the press release. “We never want the response of law enforcement to escalate into lethal use of force. However, when that does occur, our job is to obtain and review all evidence before deciding whether any criminal wrongdoing took place according to existing law.”
Nessel’s office came to a decision after reviewing surveillance video, testimony from witnesses, including Gray’s family; and interviewing the officers involved: James Ziemiecki Jr., Travis Kaufman, Trevor Head, Thomas Price, and Jessie Smith.
The officers’ testimony was “consistent throughout their interviews and with each other,” according to the report. To read the full report from Attorney General Nessel's office, click here.
A Macomb County Sheriff's investigation in late November of 2018 also determined the shooting was "justifiable."
The Attorney General report said Gray was “brandishing a handgun at the banquet hall, causing some people there to fear for their safety.”
Police told WWJ a baby shower for the mother of Gray’s unborn child was underway at the banquet hall at the time of the shooting. The report said the owner of the hall called 9-1-1 frantically, saying he was “throwing a fit with a gun.”
Officers chased Gray out of the hall into the back parking lot. Nessel’s office said Gray ignored police commands to stop running and drop the gun. He fired one shot at officers. The officers then returned fire. Axe was killed during the chase, although it is not clear who fired the fatal shot to the K9 officer.
Gray died within minutes of arriving at St. John’s Hospital, according to the report. It said he was struck at least five times, including once in the head.
The report said the officers acted in accordance with Michigan’s Self-Defense Act which says a person, including police, “can use deadly force against another” if they believe it is necessary to save his/her own life, or the life of another.
Gray’s family, however, has pushed back on these conclusions. The report specified a number of theories they presented to investigators including; officers immediately firing their weapons, an officer kicking Gray in the head, or officers denying life-saving measures to Gray. They also suggested the possibility Gray never had a weapon, or police edited the surveillance videos.
The report states all the evidence either does not support or directly refutes these theories. It was completed back in April.