Macomb sheriff says suspect forced Shelby Township officers to fire

SHELBY TOWNSHIP — After investigating an incident Jan. 9 in which two Shelby Township police officers opened fire on a suspect, the Macomb County Sheriff’s Office determined that the officers acted according to the law and their training and that no charges would be requested against the officers.

Macomb County Sheriff Anthony M. Wickersham explained the investigation’s findings in a press conference Jan. 24 at the Sheriff’s Office in Mount Clemens.

At 6:23 a.m. Jan. 9, Shelby Township’s emergency dispatch center received multiple calls reporting a domestic stabbing. According to the Sheriff’s Office, the stabbing suspect, 30-year-old Miles Farish, was one of the callers. He stated that he had stabbed the victim, his mother, and repeatedly said that he wanted officers to kill him, according to the Sheriff’s Office.

Two responding Shelby Township police officers arrived at the Shelby Oaks apartment complex, located at 45725 Utica Green West, near Mound and West Utica roads, at 6:37 a.m. Approximately two minutes later, they made contact with Farish.

The Sheriff’s Office said that Farish was walking north on Utica Green West toward the two officers. They told him to stop and to drop his phone, and 15 seconds later one of the officers gives an order for Farish to “put the knife down,” according to a timeline of events from the Sheriff’s Office.

Farish didn’t comply with the order and kept walking toward the officers, who retreated backward with their guns drawn, the Sheriff’s Office said.

Within the next 20 seconds, a third officer arrived at the confrontation. At this point, the Sheriff’s Office said, Farish was standing with his hands in the air and a knife in his right hand while the first two officers were telling him to “drop the knife.”

A few seconds later, Farish continued to move toward the officers and the third officer fired a Taser; the Sheriff’s Office stated that two attempts with the stun weapon “did not have an impact on him.”

Simultaneously to the second Taser attempt, the other two officers fired their guns at Farish, who was 15 feet away, at 6:40 a.m. and 12 seconds, and Farish, hit by six of 18 shots, fell to the ground, the Sheriff’s Office said. Twelve seconds later the officers disarmed Farish and began giving him medical aid, according to the Sheriff’s Office timeline.

“Officers immediately called for medical assistance and rendered aid,” Wickersham said. “They put pressure on wounds and put on tourniquets and did everything they could to save Farish’s life. Farish is alive today and is in stable condition lodged in the hospital. He was transported, and because of their efforts. As you can see in this situation, he was bent on coming at law enforcement, and comments completed his actions, and he wanted law enforcement to take action and shoot him — possibly a suicide by cop situation. But if you look at the reports in our investigation and the body camera, police officers utilized extreme restraints before having to use deadly force in the situation,” he said.

According to the Sheriff’s Office, the mother survived and is recovering. No officers were injured in the incident.

The Sheriff’s Office said that it “found no evidence to substantiate requesting criminal charges for Shelby Township Officers. The case was also reviewed with the Macomb County Prosecutor’s Office. The use of force upon Miles Farish was consistent with the training and applicable Michigan laws. The MCSO investigation is closed at this time.”

Police have had two encounters with Farish previously, once in 2020 for a missing person report and once in 2019 during a traffic complaint, but nothing violent, according to the Sheriff’s Office. Farish reportedly is not communicating with police. All police involved have gone through required evaluations after the incident.

No one other than Wickersham spoke at the press conference.

Farish was arraigned on a charge of assault with intent to murder in 41A District Court Jan. 12. He was given a $2 million bond and referred to Community Corrections for a mental health evaluation.

Following the Sheriff’s Office’s investigation, Macomb County Prosecutor Peter Lucido authorized additional charges against Farish related to the confrontation with police. Farish was charged Jan. 23 with three counts of assault with a deadly weapon and three counts of assaulting/resisting/obstructing a police officer. He was arraigned in his hospital bed with a $2 million cash bond awaiting his court appearances.

According to court records, Joshua Duane Jones is Farish’s lawyer for all the charges. Jones could not be reached immediately.