Prosecutor: Police shooting of Battle Creek woman outside mental health clinic justified
Calhoun County Prosecutor David Gilbert has ruled Battle Creek Police officers "violated no criminal law" in firing upon a Battle Creek woman during a shooting outside a mental health clinic in December 2021.
In an eight-page opinion released Wednesday, Gilbert said Sgt. Chad Fickle and Detective Brandin Huggett acted in "lawful self-defense of themselves and others after being put in a deadly situation" solely through the actions of 40-year-old Sareedi Harris, who fired a gun Dec. 15, nearly striking a crisis worker at Summit Pointe First Step at 175 College St. while Harris' children were in a vehicle with her.
Gilbert said the officers' use of deadly force was reasonable given the danger Harris posed to them and the public.
"The officers fired a total of seven rounds at a person who already tried to shoot one person, then pointed it at others before recklessly crashing her vehicle into two vehicles to escape," Gilbert said. "Despite one child left in the vehicle, the officers each had a clear line of fire when they discharged their weapons and ceased when they did not."
Harris is being held in the Calhoun County Jail on a $505,000 bond. She's charged with three counts of assault with intent to murder, three counts of felony firearm, carrying a concealed weapon and malicious destruction of police property.
Harris also faces an additional charge of resisting/obstructing a police officer after she allegedly assaulted a jail employee Jan. 3.
Harris was referred for a criminal responsibility exam in January, court records show. The report came back in March, but now an independent evaluation is underway. The case is scheduled for review June 28.
The shooting took place after Fickle and Huggett responded to the mental health facility at 12:04 p.m. on Dec. 15 to assist with taking Harris into custody on a mental health commitment order from Calhoun County.
According to statements from the officers, and video from Fickle's patrol car, Harris refused to comply with the commitment order, locking herself inside her white SUV with her two young children.
In an attempt to get Harris out of the vehicle, Fickle tried to break the driver's window with a baton. At the same time, a crisis worker went around the front of the SUV to the passenger side, motioning a child in the back seat to open the door.
As the 9-year-old opened the rear passenger door, Harris fired a handgun at the crisis worker, and then turned the gun toward Fickle and others on the driver's side of the vehicle.
The officers fired seven rounds at Harris and she was struck in the shoulder.
"It appears Ms. Harris had mental issues at the time, was very paranoid and a danger to those around her," Gilbert said. "She was armed with a handgun in an automobile and fired at someone she believed was trying to kidnap her child despite an officer trying to take her into custody. She fired at and almost killed a care worker before turning (the gun) on Sgt. Fickle and others. But for the misfeed jamming the weapon, this situation could have been worse."
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Harris backed her vehicle into Fickle's patrol car, rammed another vehicle and then backed up a second time into the patrol car before leaving. She was found at a nearby house on Garfield Avenue and arrested.
In an interview with police in the Bronson hospital emergency room following the shooting, Harris talked about "not feeling safe, that the police took her children, they blocked her vehicle, she didn't know what happened, but a female tried to grab her kid, and she thought the woman was trying to kidnap her child for someone named 'JOMO.'"
Harris denied firing a weapon, but said she could legally carry a gun.
Contact reporter Greyson Steele at gsteele@battlecreekenquirer.com or 269-501-5661. Follow him on Twitter: G_SteeleBC
This article originally appeared on Battle Creek Enquirer: Prosecutor says Battle Creek police justified in shooting woman
