A Roseville man shot by police after he rammed their SUV appears to have conducted a practice run with his car before backing up and waiting for an officer to exit a station and enter the marked vehicle, according to video released Oct. 23.
The 36-year-old man, who has no criminal history and is believed to be a prior supporter of law enforcement, was in critical condition at a hospital after the Oct. 13 incident, which the Macomb County sheriff called a “targeted attack.” Officials have not identified the man.
After ramming the police SUV, the man exited his vehicle while holding a hunting knife that was more than 6 inches long, county authorities said. Video captured officers screaming at him to drop the knife, followed by several gunshots from police.
The man was under police guard at the hospital, after being shot in the lower back, left thigh, upper right back, upper right shoulder, lower right ankle and upper right groin, authorities said.
The motive for the incident is unknown, and investigators have not had the opportunity to talk with the man, Sheriff Anthony Wickersham said during a news conference Oct. 23 at the county jail in Mount Clemens.
He said there was “no note, no manifesto,” nothing to indicate why the man targeted the officers about 4:30 a.m. that day at the police station on Gratiot Avenue.
Roseville Police Chief Mitch Berlin said the incident may expedite security enhancements that have been planned for the parking lot, including prohibiting parking next to the station. Neither he nor Wickersham recalled an incident against law enforcement outside a police station in the county.
Wickersham said authorities have talked with the man’s family and ascertained some information, including that he has had some mental health issues, though Wickersham did not elaborate.
Authorities said there was no indication of drug or alcohol use by the man at the time of incident, adding neither Roseville police nor the sheriff’s office had any prior contact with him.
Wickersham said the incident outlines the dangers law enforcement officers face.
“This is just the danger of the profession,” he said, later adding, “as you can tell, he’s armed. He’s a threat. They feared for their life. They went to their training. They know how to escalate and de-escalate and this was a deadly force situation … and that’s what they utilized.”
Wickersham said the silver Pontiac G5 car that the man used to ram the police SUV belonged to the man’s father.
Video shown during the news conference showed the car in the parking lot, pulling up to a couple of police vehicles, then backing up and stopping. About seven minutes later, the car approached a parked, marked police SUV, slowly tapping its rear bumper, then backing up.
About two minutes later, three officers are seen walking toward police vehicles, including the marked police SUV.
About 20 seconds later, the video shows the car driving quickly toward the marked police SUV, ramming it from behind, the hood of the car bent up and smoke coming out the hood.
“Stay right there. Put the car in park. Whoa, whoa, whoa,” an officer is heard on video saying to the man, who is holding a knife.
“Drop the knife,” an officer repeatedly says on video, while pointing a gun at the car.
The man opens the driver’s side door of the car, per the video, and another officer is heard saying, “Drop the knife. Drop the (expletive) knife.”
The officers repeatedly order the man to drop the knife before firing shots. Wickersham said the man didn’t say anything to the officers. He said the man was shot after he went toward the officers.
Wickersham said the man has not been arraigned because of his condition, adding that the district court determined he should be cognizant and understanding of the charges.
He said the man is charged in a warrant with one count each of carrying a dangerous weapon with unlawful attempt and malicious destruction of police property and two counts of assault with a dangerous weapon.
Wickersham said investigators reviewed video from building, body and in-car police vehicle cameras and determined the two officers who fired seven shots in total were justified. He said the shooting conformed to state law and Roseville police’s departmental policies, and the officers face no criminal charges.
A third officer, who was in the rear-ended SUV, suffered minor injuries and recovered. He pulled out a Taser in the incident. The two officers who fired the shots were not hurt.
Wickersham did not name the officers involved, but said two of them have two-plus years with Roseville police and the third had more than three years with the department. They were expected to return to work Oct. 24. All three officers are uniformed officers.
Berlin said the officers were on their way to an alarm or motion call in the city when the incident occurred in the parking lot. He said it was unknown to anyone inside the station that the man was in the parking lot prior to the incident. Berlin said the officers involved have no prior discipline and received mental health counseling after the incident.
Contact Christina Hall: chall@freepress.com. Follow her on X: @challreporter.
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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: ‘Targeted attack’ on Roseville police by man who rammed police SUV, pulled knife on cops
Reporting by Christina Hall, Detroit Free Press / Detroit Free Press
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