2 Lansing police officers cleared in fatal shooting last year
LANSING — Two Lansing police officers who shot and killed a man while on duty last year were acting in self-defense, Attorney General Dana Nessel’s office has determined.
Warning: the video contains graphic content, including gun violence.
Lansing police on Oct. 3, 2022, responded to gunfire in the 2000 block of Malcolm X Street and found numerous mopeds in the driveway of the nearest residence, which they suspected were stolen. Hours later on Oct. 4, officers attempted to execute a search warrant on the house, and Terrence Robinson refused to exit the house or allow police to enter, informed the officers he was armed and threatened to take his own life if officers entered the house, Nessel’s office said in a news release.
Robinson, 31 at the time, was accused of firing 16 rounds at officers in about 12 minutes and 30 seconds before leaving the home through a backdoor, when he was again accused of firing at officers. Lansing police officers Dan Salinaz and Nicholas Zuber shot and killed Robinson, Lansing police said last year.
Nessel cleared the officers of any wrongdoing, saying they were justified in using deadly force to protect themselves and the public.
Lansing Police Chief Ellery Sosebee, who at the time said the officers acted with "bravery and professionalism," issued a statement on Friday afternoon commending Michigan State Police and Nessel's team "for their diligence."
“My condolences continue to go out to the Robinson family," Sosebee said. "These tragic events serve as a reminder to what our officers face on a daily basis when doing their job.”
Attorneys in Nessel’s office reviewed written reports, video footage, lab reports, an autopsy report and 911 calls among other evidence, the department said in a statement.
In her release, Nessel said officers need to carefully balance "all human interests" before using deadly force. Those decisions are based on their perception of the threat and a subject’s "apparent ability to carry out that threat," she said.
“Under all the facts and circumstances known to police officers on this date, they were justified in their use of deadly self-defense," she said. "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. 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."
Former Ingham County Prosecutor Carol Siemon, who has since left office, declined to review shootings by police and referred the case to Nessel’s office for possible criminal charges.
State police investigated the shooting.
Contact Ken Palmer atkpalmer@lsj.com. Follow him on Twitter @KBPalm_lsj.
This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: 2 Lansing police officers cleared in fatal shooting last year
