DETROIT — Body camera video released by the Detroit Police Department shows the moments leading up to a fatal shooting during an eviction.
On July 12, a bailiff was at an apartment to evict a 44-year-old man, CBS Detroit reported. The bailiff reported that the man became aggressive, resulting in Detroit police responding to the apartment.
Body-worn camera video from the incident released on Dec. 23 shows the bailiff and the officer knocking on the apartment door, stating they are there to serve the eviction notice.
Once the bailiff and the officer make entry into the apartment, the bailiff tells the man, who was inside a bedroom on a bed, that they can talk about the situation as the man tells the bailiff they are inside his apartment “illegally.”
The bailiff continues to try to de-escalate the situation, asking the man if there’s a family member he can call to help resolve the situation.
“Listen, we will back up if you drop the knife,” the bailiff says.
More officers respond to the scene as the bailiff continues to ask the man to drop the knife, which was later determined to be a box cutter. The man continued to yell at the bailiff and officers and refused to drop the weapon.
After an officer reads the papers from the court out loud to the man, the bailiff starts to move into the bedroom near the suspect. The bailiff then tases the suspect, who is still holding the box cutter, video shows. The suspect then got up from the bed and went toward the bailiff with a box cutter, prompting the bailiff to fire shots at the suspect, prosecutors said. The suspect then attempted to approach one of the officers with the box cutter when the bailiff fired again.
Officers on the scene rendered aid to the suspect who was transported to the hospital where he was pronounced deceased, CBS Detroit reports.
Police did call a crisis intervention team, but before they arrived, the bailiff had to act in self-defense and defense of others, the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office said.
“The actions of the bailiff were not criminal given these circumstances,” Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy said.
