Body cam released when a man is fatally shot by deputy when he pointed gun at police

A Grandville police officer said a man pointed a gun at officers before an Ottawa County sheriff’s deputy shot and killed him near Jenison earlier this month.

The shooting happened around 10:20 p.m. June 10 on River Avenue off of Baldwin Street in Georgetown Township. Authorities say the officer were sent there on a report of a man threatening to kill others and himself. A report from the Grandville Police Department, which was among the agencies that sent officers, says dispatchers were also informed the man was shooting a gun into the woods.

In a police report obtained by News 8 via Freedom of Information Act request, a Grandville officer wrote that the man wasn’t obeying deputies’ commands.

“I witnessed the subject reach towards the front of his vehicle and produce a handgun,” the report reads in part. “The subject pointed the handgun at Officers and Deputies.”

The report says that’s when the deputy fired the shot from his rifle. The man fell and stopped moving.

Ottawa County deputies do not have body cameras or dashcams, but Grandville police do. News 8 received that video Monday through a FOIA request. The video does not show the shooting, but it can be heard in the audio. In an officer’s bodycam video, someone can be heard ordering, “Show me your hands.” Another officer then said, “Gun, gun, gun, gun.” That was immediately followed by a gunshot. The Grandville officer reported shots fired over her radio.

Authorities say emergency responders tried to save the man, but he died. The name of the man, a 28-year-old, has not been released.

The deputy who fired the shot was placed on administrative leave while Michigan State Police investigate the shooting, which is standard procedure.