Lansing Police identify man killed in Friday night police shooting
LANSING — Nearly 48 hours after Lansing police shot and killed a man while responding to a domestic violence incident, few details have been released.
During a news conference on Sunday, Lansing Police Chief Ellery Sosebee provided a timeline of events, but would not name the two officers who have been placed on administrative leave while the Michigan State Police investigates the shooting, which happened at 11:27 p.m. Friday in the 1600 block of Massachusetts Avenue.
Sosebee said 33-year-old Stephen Luis Romero, the man who police shot, "presented" a firearm, but he declined to provide more detail. Police released Romero's name to reporters on Sunday.
Sosebee would not say whether Romero fired at officers, how many times officers fired at Romero or whether anyone else was injured. He said, as of 4 p.m. Sunday, that he was not able to say whether police knew Romero, whether they'd previously been called to that address or whether the officers involved have previously been involved in police shootings.
Both officers were wearing body cameras that captured the shooting, he said. That video, along with the firearms involved in the shooting and additional evidence, has been turned over to State Police.
Sosebee provided a more thorough timeline of what led up to the shooting:
Around 11:19 p.m., dispatch received a call about a domestic assault in progress and a few minutes later officers began responding.
At 11:24 p.m., someone called 911 to report hearing a gunshot and the sound of a woman crying, and a minute later dispatch told the responding officers it was now a shooting.
Officers arrived on scene at 11:26 p.m. and saw Romero standing next to a vehicle in the driveway. They also saw a woman sitting in the vehicle, which had a door open.
Officers made repeated commands to Romero to show his hands and get on the ground.
"During this encounter, a gun is presented by the male subject," Sosebee said, and officers "engaged" him. At 11:27 p.m., dispatch was told that shots had been fired.
Sosebee said officers then moved Romero away from the vehicle before checking on the woman, who was not shot. He said officers provided medical treatment to Romero until the Lansing Fire Department arrived and took him to the local hospital where he was later pronounced dead.
Sosebee said he expects to have additional details, including the names of the two officers and video of the shooting, by the end of the week.
Contact reporter Matt Mencarini at 517-377-1026 or mjmencarini@lsj.com. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @MattMencarini.
This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: LPD releases name of man killed in Friday night police shooting
