LANSING (WWJ) — No charges will be filed against a Lansing police officer and three Michigan State Police troopers who shot and killed an armed Lansing man last winter, as it has been determined they acted in self-defense.
Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel announced Tuesday her department has concluded its review of the officer-involved shooting that killed 35-year-old Nicolas Micko on Jan. 5, 2023.
Around 5 p.m. that Friday Lansing police and MSP troopers were called to Irene Court after getting multiple 911 calls about a neighbor, later identified as Micko, "acting erratically, running around the neighborhood carrying a rifle," according to the AG's office.
Callers told police Micko was pointing the gun at nearby homes and "recklessly firing the weapon at a neighbor's garage, home and into vacant areas along the street," the AG's office said.
In response to the calls about the shooter on Irene Court, a Lansing Police Department sergeant requested MSP troopers who were in the area working a surveillance assignment.
When police showed up to the scene they "heard ongoing gunshots and believed the scene to be an active shooter situation," according to Nessel's office. Following the sound of gunshots, troopers and the officer "quickly found Micko running in their direction on nearby Wayne Street."
The officer and troopers gave verbal commands for Micko to raise his hands and get on the ground. He stopped running, but continued walking towards them.
When he was about 50 feet away, officials say Micko stopped and pulled a pistol from his waistband, then continued walking toward police.
Micko then ignored more verbal commands from police and raised the gun, aiming it at the police. That's when the officer and three troopers opened fire, hitting Micko 14 times, according to the AG's office.
Officials say about 30 seconds elapsed from the time police first made contact with Micko to when shots were fired.
Troopers provided CPR and life saving measures until paramedics arrived to take Micko to the hospital, where he later died.
"The legal issue in this case was whether the MSP Troopers and the LPD Officer acted in a legal manner during their interaction with Nicolas Micko when they used deadly force by discharging their respective weapons," said a release from Nessel's office Tuesday. "Law enforcement officers have the lawful authority to use force to protect the public welfare, but a careful balance of all human interests is required. An officer's decision about the level of force necessary to control an individual will be based on the officer's perception of the threat and the subject's apparent ability to carry out that threat."
The AG's office says under all the facts and circumstances known to troopers and officers on this date, "they were justified in their use of deadly self-defense," as law enforcement officers "have the same privilege of self-defense as anyone else."
Shooting a gun in self-defense requires "an honest and reasonable belief that an officer is in danger of being killed or seriously injured," the release said, noting "if that person's belief was honest and reasonable, they can act immediately to defend themselves."
"The act is justified where the person (1) was not the aggressor, (2) acts under an honest and reasonable belief that they are in danger of death or great bodily harm, (3) retreats from the scene if possible and (4) the only recourse lay in repelling the attack by the use of deadly force."
"Here, under all of the facts and circumstances presented, the Department concluded the MSP Troopers and the LPD Officer acted in self-defense and did not act in a manner that would substantiate criminal charges. The City of Lansing and Lansing Police Department issued a critical incident community briefing regarding this self-defense shooting, releasing therein body-worn camera footage of the incident," the AG's office concluded.
