Lansing police release video footage of fatal shooting by officers

LANSING — Police on Friday released video footage from an incident where Lansing officers fatally shot a 31-year-old man outside of a residence near Interstate 496.

Terrence Robinson died from gunshot wounds the morning of Oct. 4 after an encounter with police outside a home in the 2000 block of West Malcolm X Street, an Interstate-496 service drive.

"What we are showing you today is meant to provide a level of transparency that both allows the community to better understand the deadly encounter faced by the officers, the witnesses and the citizens on Oct. 4, while at the same time, not impeding the Michigan State police investigation," Police Chief Ellery Sosebee said in a video voiceover.

Sosebee identified the two officers who fired their weapons as Dan Salinaz and Nicholas Zuber, who have two and eight years of experience, respectively. In accordance with LPD's policy, the two men were placed on paid leave pending an investigation into the shooting.

Here is the video released by police. Warning: the video contains graphic content, including gun violence.

The video includes multiple clips, spliced together with captions in which police describe what occurred. The video including voiceover portions is 9 minutes and 39 seconds long.

It begins with a 29-second excerpt from a 911 call, in which a woman tells dispatchers, "Corner house, brown house, there’s teenagers out there shooting guns and running their mopeds around and making a lot of noise, screaming that they're currently out there shooting guns."

The first video clip shows officers attempting to speak with Robinson at a door to the home, identifying themselves and saying they have a search warrant.

In the short clip, officers have difficulty communicating with people inside the house. An officer quietly notes to another officer that "he says he's going to kill himself." It's unclear to whom the officer is referring to.

“I can’t hear you man. Do you have a gun? We just need to come inside and search the house, that’s all," the officer said from the door.

The video explains that officers took cover behind their vehicle because they "received information that the suspect inside may be armed with a firearm."

"Officers made the decision to decision to disengage, and redeploy to cover, in order to create distance and de-escalate the situation," the video reads.

The next few videos show the perspectives of various officers as gunshots are fired from inside the house, including two which struck a patrol vehicle some officers were using as cover.

While behind cover, the video notes, police call for a tactical team and attempt to negotiate with the suspect from behind their vehicle.

“His name is T,” one officer says.

Another officer, whose body cam is shown, calls out to Robinson and is cut off by the sound of a gunshot.

“T, listen man. Nobody wants to die today, alright? Let’s just come out and we can sort this out. Just come outside and talk to me, man. Let’s work on this," the officer says. "Let’s work on this, it’s not that deep. Think about your baby," he said, right before another shot is heard.

After a dash-cam clip shows the two rounds striking the LPD vehicle, the video fast-forwards to footage of Robinson running across the lawn and stopping to fire one gunshot toward an LPD vehicle, before he proceeds into the street towards another LPD vehicle and is shot by officers.

A final video shows officers rendering first aid to Robinson.

Sosebee gave condolences to Robinson's family, before explaining the investigation. He concluded by reaching out to the community and his employees.

"I want to thank the Lansing community for their patience and acknowledge my support for the members of the Lansing Police Department during this challenging time," he said.

A homegoing service is scheduled for Robinson at 11 a.m. Saturday morning at Mind Body & Soul Ministries Outreach Center at 2045 W. Jolly Road on Lansing's south side.

Robinson's family could not be reached for comment.

An online obituary was published for Robinson by Paradise Funeral Chapel. People have begun to share their condolences.

Once the investigation concludes, Michigan State Police will submit its findings to Attorney General Dana Nessel for review. Ingham County Prosecutor Carol Siemon said in June 2020 that her office would no longer review cases involving police shootings and other deaths of individuals in police custody, an effort to move towards a more formalized statewide structure of investigations.

Contact reporter Jared Weber at 517-582-3937 or jtweber@lsj.com.

This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: Lansing police release video footage of fatal shooting by officers