OTTO TOWNSHP, MICH (WWJ)- A man who told police he had a bomb strapped to himself was killed in an officer-involved shooting in Western Michigan, State Police said.
Michigan State Police said they were called to a home on Saturday on Skeels Road in Otto Township, about 65 miles northwest of Grand Rapids, for a man who “was acting erratically.” He left the home and was later found in the area of Skeels and Nichols roads.
“When he saw troopers, he ran into the woods and came back out carrying a wired device and made the statement that he was going to kill everybody,” Michigan State Police Sixth District said in a statement on X.
Troopers kept him from leaving the side of the road, and called in additional assistance from: MSP Grand Rapids, MSP Bomb Squad, and the Emergency Support Team. Police evacuated nearby residents for safety reasons, State Police said.
The Emergency Support Team (ES) attempted to negotiate with the man for “several hours,” according to State Police.
“During negotiations, there was a perceived threat from him, at which point, a shot was fired by an ES team member that struck the man,” State Police said in the statement.
The man, 44 of Oceana County, was pronounced dead. Police are working to “make the device safe.”