Southgate — A woman detained after a Southgate police officer shot and killed a man in a Meijer parking lot Saturday during a shoplifting investigation has been released, police said Sunday.
Retail fraud charges are expected to be submitted to the prosecutor, they said.
Southgate police said the officer fired a single shot during Saturday’s encounter at the Meijer parking lot on Fort Street with the man, 34, who has not be publicly identified.
“It was only one,” said Lt. Robert Lukofsky with the Southgate Police Department.
The incident was captured on officers’ body-worn cameras.
“They were both under investigation for retail fraud,” said Lukofsky, when the encounter escalated.
The investigation intothe shooting remains ongoing under the direction of the Michigan State Police.
State police referred questions Sunday to the Southgate Police Department.
The man pulled out a sharp object and moved toward officers. An officer fired at least one shot, Police Chief Mark Mydlarz told media at the scene Saturday.
Officers rendered aid before the man was taken to a hospital, where he died, Mydlarz said.
No officers were injured, the chief said.
A 42-year-old woman who was with the man was taken into custody, according to a Southgate Police Department press release. The woman’s relationship to the man was unclear.
The shooting happened during the annual Downriver Cruise, widely known as the Fort Street Cruise, where people camp along both sides of Fort Street and surrounding areas to watch a parade of specialty cars and motorcycles.
Mydlarz said the department had an increased presence because of the cruise and was able to respond quickly to the shoplifting call as a result.
“We had a lot of manpower in for that,” he said. “We were fortunate because we had all this manpower in that we were able to quickly contain this, get the investigation going.”
Mydlarz said at about 3:45 p.m., officers responded to a call of a shoplifting in progress. They attempted to stop two people, he said, a man and a woman.
The chief said the man pulled out the sharp object and “engaged our officers” before one officer fired a weapon. The officer will be placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation, Mydlarz said.
A witness, who declined to give his name, said he was set up with friends in the grassy area along the western side of the parking lot, ready to grill and watch the cars, when around 4 p.m. they saw two people, a man and a woman, leave the store carrying a few bags before they were chased by police. He said about five police vehicles suddenly arrived on the scene.
The police jumped out and stopped the pair, the witness said, and it appeared the man tried to flee.
By the time they reached a sidewalk in the grassy area, a confrontation took place, the person said. He said he was watching police place the woman in handcuffs when he heard a shot and looked back to see the man on the ground.
jpignolet@detroitnews.com
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Woman with man shot by police at Southgate Meijer released
Reporting by Jennifer Pignolet and Candice Williams, The Detroit News / The Detroit News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Jennifer Pignolet and Candice Williams, The Detroit News | USA TODAY Network
