UPDATE 1/29/24 6:28 p.m.
KALKASKA COUNTY —Michigan State Police are looking into an officer involved shooting in Kalkaska County.
The shooting may have resulted in a man’s death over the weekend.
Public Information Officer with the 7th District of Michigan State Police, Lieutenant Derrick Carroll said the shooting happened Sunday on Ingersoll Road in Fife Lake.
Carroll said State Police are investigating the death of a Fife Lake man to determine if he died as a result from a state trooper or if the man shot himself.
Carroll said they are still conducting interviews and an autopsy is scheduled for later Monday.
“They reported shots fired from the individual. So right there, we already know that this person is armed and has been using a firearm. We still have a lot of interviews to do. And the medical examiner report determination of how he was deceased will be instrumental as well,” said Carroll.
State Police said they are just at the start of their investigation.
Carroll said the man was wanted for a domestic assault that happened at the man’s home on Ingersoll Road on Saturday but when deputies got there, he had run away.
He was later found at a neighboring property on Sunday, about a mile away from where the assault happened.
“It was a trailer that did not belong to him. He was inside reportedly. And when the neighbor came to confront him, he stepped outside, fired a gun in the air, and then fled into the woods.
And that person did the right thing. They stepped back. They left and they called 911. Not putting themselves in any further danger.
A deputy and a conservation officer who then responded saw the man run into the woods and chased him.
“At some point, shots were fired toward them. That’s what they heard. They backed off. And our K-9 team, and emergency support team were called in the area, and they tracked it to the enclosed deer blind. The K-9 team were able to track him to an enclosed deer stand while another confrontation ensued, and shots were fired by the troopers. Then it all went silent, and it was called out with a drone. The drone confirmed they were deceased at that time,” said Carroll.
Troopers found a loaded shotgun under his body. They are awaiting more information before they conclusively say what killed the man.
“We’re going to wait for the crime lab, the medical examiner in the interviews to come through the underground, the ballistic testing,” said Carroll.
State Police said once they have finished their investigation, everything will be turned over to the prosecutor’s office for review.
1/29/24 10 a.m.
KALKASKA COUNTY — A suspect who hid in a tree stand and then confronted law enforcement officials was killed, state police said Monday.
On Jan. 27, deputies from the Kalkaska County Sheriff’s Office were called to a residence on Ingersol Road in Fife Lake for a domestic assault.
The suspect, a 35-year-old man from Fife Lake, had fled the scene, deputies said.
The next day, the suspect was seen on a neighboring property owner’s trail camera approximately one mile from the residence on Ingersol Road, deputies said. The property owner asked another neighbor to check the security of his trailer. When the neighbor drove to the trailer, he was confronted by the suspect, deputies said.
The suspect exited the trailer and fired a gun into the air, and the neighbor left and contacted police, deputies said.
A conservation officer from the Michigan Department of Natural Resources and a deputy from the Kalkaska County Sherriff’s Office responded and saw the suspect fleeing into the woods, they said.
As the conservation officer and deputy pursued him, they heard gunfire and took cover, officials said.
A Michigan State Police K-9 Team and a member of the MSP Emergency Support Team (EST) responded and began to track the suspect. He was found in an elevated enclosed tree stand, officials said.
Upon approaching the tree stand, a confrontation occurred and troopers fired at the suspect inside the tree stand, officials said.
Additional MSP EST members responded along with MSP Aviation.
A drone was deployed, and it was determined that the suspect was dead.
Inside the enclosed tree stand, troopers recovered a loaded gun under the body of the suspect, they said.
Michigan State Police are investigating this case to determine whether he died as a result from a state trooper shooting him, or if the man shot himself. They are conducting interviews and an autopsy was scheduled for Monday.
The MSP Forensic Science Laboratory from Grayling and the MSP Sixth District Investigative Response Team from Grand Rapids responded to the scene to conduct the investigation.
