GRPD releases body camera video of officer-involved shooting

Editor’s Warning: Viewers may find the body camera footage disturbing. Viewer discretion is advised.

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — The Grand Rapids Police Department has released the body camera and dashboard camera video from an officer-involved shooting that happened Saturday.

Grand Rapids Police Chief Eric Winstrom went through the footage Sunday afternoon, showing the moments officers shot an armed man three times. The video showed the man charging at police while holding a box cutter.

The two officers involved are now on administrative leave, per standard protocol. Michigan State Police has taken over the investigation, which is also typical.

The 19-year-old man is expected to survive, Winstrom said. He has not yet been identified.

1 hospitalized after officer-involved shooting in Grand Rapids

Early Saturday morning, Winstrom said police received a call about a man inside a local business who was threatening customers.

“This individual had locked himself in a bathroom and then possibly attempting to steal something and then he was threatening customers,” Winstrom said.

Not long after, police say they heard a man with the same description who was assaulting people in the area.

Around 8:30 a.m., an officer went to Union Avenue NE and Innes Street NE on the city’s northeast side and found the 19-year-old in an alley.

The video shows the man telling the officer he had a box cutter on him. The officer can be seen telling the man to turn around and keep his hands on his head.

The footage shows the man initially following those orders but later charging at the officer.

“You’re gonna get shot!” the officer yelled at the man in the video. “Stop, stop!”

As the man continued to pursue the officer, he was shot twice, once in the chest and once in the stomach.

Another officer soon arrived at the scene. The man was down for less than a minute before he got back up and ran into a garage attached to a nearby house.

Winstrom said two people were inside that home. The man was not able to get into the home through the garage, Winstrom said.

The officers followed the man and instructed him to “get down on the ground.” At that point in the video, the man told officers he had a knife on him.

The video shows the man leaving the garage and running at the officers again. One of the others fired a Taser at the man, which was unsuccessful.

The man then chased the other officer, who ran backwards. The officer fired a single shot, which brought the man to the ground. Winstrom said the video appeared to show that the man was shot in the arm.

The man was then taken to the hospital where he went through surgery.

“I’m very happy this individual is still alive, and I hope he gets the treatment he needs,” Winstrom said.

Winstrom added that the man got into a fight with hospital staff.

He said the man’s box cutter put officers at risk.

“I’ve seen injuries ranging from disfigurement to deadly with box cutters,” he said.

In policy changes made since Winstrom took over the police department, he’s placed preserving the sanctity of life as an officer’s top priority. Winstrom said the video shows that officers tried to de-escalate the situation by repeatedly giving verbal commands and warnings that they could use force.

The police chief also cited the officer running backwards when the man chased after them.

“This is a part of de-escalation, it’s part of using time as a tactic to give individuals the best chance to resolve this in a peaceful way,” Winstrom said.

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