Benton Harbor Public Safety Director Dan McGinnis says they stand ready to release body camera footage of a police-involved shooting early this morning on Pavone once the family of the victim sees it and it’s cleared by the Berrien County Prosecutor’s office. McGinnis says a 28-year-old man was shot and killed after opening fire on police responding to a call of someone holding another person at gunpoint in a home.
“We understand people will be hot,” said McGinnis as he asked people to remain calm. “We understand people will have their opinions. I think we can agree to disagree peacefully. That’s why we felt it was important to get before you quickly and get facts out of what we were able to put out. Again, we have nothing to hide, as you’ll see.”
When officers arrived, they realized there was no gunman inside the home, and the residents were cooperative. As they stepped back outside, several shots were fired from Broadway Park, and an officer who was near there on the perimeter shot the suspect. The names of the officer involved and the suspect are being held for the time being. The officer involved was originally a firefighter who crosstrained as a police officer and had been a full-fledged public safety officer for about a year. McGinnis would not say if he felt his officers were ambushed. He says more information will be released later today, and Benton Harbor Mayor Marcus Muhammad will also make a statement this afternoon.
