Police fatally shoot 18-year-old man after domestic violence call

WARREN — On April 12, a Warren police officer responding to a domestic violence call on Garbor Drive shot and killed a man who was reportedly armed with a handgun.

Three days later, on April 15, police held a press conference to show body camera video and address the officer-involved shooting that led to the death of the 18-year-old Warren resident.

Police were dispatched to the home near 11 Mile and Ryan roads at around 1:45 p.m. on a report that a man was assaulting family members.

The incident started when police dispatch received a call from a man heard saying, “Our brother is going crazy. He didn’t sleep for four days. He is assaulting everybody.”

When officers arrived, they encountered a man who was reportedly armed with a handgun, police said, and an officer shot the man.

According to the video released by Warren police, an officer knocked on the front door and received no answer. When he heard the garage door open, he went to the front of the garage. The officer then saw a man with a handgun. The officer, along with other officers, ran in the opposite direction, as seen on the video. Another officer arrived at the scene and asked the officer, “Where’s he at?”  The officer replied, “Right there, right there.” The arriving officer then shot the man, who fell to the ground, according to the body camera footage.

According to Warren Police Commissioner Charles Rushton, the man took an offensive stance with arms raised and a gun in his hand pointing in the direction of police. Officers shot 11 rounds, three of which struck the man, Rushton said.

“No, once the individual pointed a firearm at officers, our officers took the appropriate level of force to defend themselves,” Rushton said when asked if officers could have disarmed the man without shooting.

As seen on the body camera footage, the officers handcuffed the man after he was shot and was on the ground bleeding. One officer ordered the man, “Do not touch that gun.” The same officer began to administer CPR and talked to the man, telling him, “Stay with me.” At one point the officer said, “I got nothing.” He continued CPR compressions and the officer said, “He’s breathing.”

The Warren Fire Department arrived and transported the man to a local hospital where he was pronounced dead.

The man’s name was not released.

No officers were injured.   

Warren Police Lt. John Gajewski said every aspect of the incident will be reviewed.