East Lansing Police Oversight Commission to review Meijer shooting
EAST LANSING — The city's police oversight commissioners are preparing to publicly discuss for the first time reports pertaining to officers shooting a man in the Meijer parking lot last year, and a consequent review of possible department violations.
Members of the Independent Police Oversight Commission are set to meet at 6 p.m. Wednesday at the Hannah Community Center, 819 Abbott Road. On the agenda is a 363-page document that includes various reports about the April 25, 2022, shooting of DeAnthony VanAtten.
Names of witnesses and other information are frequently redacted but, at one point, an investigator concludes: "After reviewing all the statements, documents, audio, videos provided by Meijer, and the body-worn cameras of the officers involved in this incident, I find that the officers involved in this incident allegedly violated ELPD policy and procedures."
Commission Chair Erick Williams said Friday that he and the other commissioners received the document recently and needed time to review its conclusions.
Three officers are accused of department violations.
Williams said he had heard that, but his understanding is that the worst issue officers are accused of is not wearing their seatbelts when driving to the Meijer store.
Williams said Wednesday's discussion most likely will be the first of many to come, but he considers the report a potential guide for possible changes that could prevent a similar shooting.
Discussions may continue at City Council, since Councilmembers Noel Garcia Jr. and Dana Watson serve as the commission's council liaisons, Williams added.
The shooting happened more than a year ago, on April 25, after police responded to a report of a man with a gun at the Meijer store on Lake Lansing Road. A caller told 911 operators she saw a Black man get out of a vehicle, run toward a store entrance, then return to the car to retrieve a gun before running back to the store, according to evidence released by East Lansing police.
After locating VanAtten inside the store, officers chased him and then pursued him into the parking lot, where officers Jose Viera and Jim Menser fired a total of eight shots after an officer said VanAtten had a gun.
VanAtten was shot in the abdomen and leg. Officers rendered first aid, and VanAtten was treated at Sparrow Hospital before being transferred to the Ingham County Jail on a warrant for a probation violation, according to Michigan State Police, who investigated the shooting.
State Attorney General Dana Nessel said in August that Viera and Menser would not face charges.
"During the driving to the Meijer store, it can be heard in Officer (Austin) Nelson and (Jeff) Horn’s BWC that the indicator for the seatbelt is going off, indicating that both officers were not wearing their seatbelts," the report stated.
Horn is accused of violating department policy on wearing seat belts and/or shoulder harnesses while driving or riding in a department vehicle and not wearing protective work clothing or equipment; Nelson is accused of violating department policy requiring seat belt use, prohibiting tobacco use on duty and using the Axon recording system.
A sergeant Wachowski, whose first name is not included in the report, is accused of not wearing his body camera or following seatbelt requirements and was given a non-disciplinary counseling prior to his retirement, according to the records.
VanAtten is awaiting trial on charges that include four counts of assaulting or obstructing police, as well as charges of carrying a concealed weapon, receiving and concealing a stolen firearm, and felony firearm possession. He also faces one count of third-degree retail fraud, a misdemeanor, the records indicate.
Commission Vice Chairperson Christine Root said at the time Nessel cleared the two officers of charges that it was important for the department start an investigation into whether the officers involved violated any of the department's policies.
"I cannot predict what action ELIPOC might take at its meeting on May 3," she told the State Journal in an email. "I expect that there will be considerable discussion. I think it wouldn't be appropriate for me to speak before the Commission meets."
This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: East Lansing Police Oversight Commission to review Meijer shooting
