BATTLE CREEK, MI (WKZO AM/FM) — Two Battle Creek Police officers are on paid administrative leave as Michigan State Police investigate an officer-involved shooting during a traffic stop.
It happened around 12:15 a.m. Tuesday at the intersection of West Columbia Avenue and South LaVista Boulevard in Battle Creek.
Police pulled over a vehicle for a number of traffic violations including erratic driving, stopping and backing up in the middle of the road, and an illegal turn.
As one officer spoke to the driver outside the vehicle, a second officer arrived, approached the vehicle’s front seat passenger and noticed the passenger had a gun on their waistband. According to authorities, the second officer asked the passenger to put their hands up so they could remove the gun, but when the officer went to grab the gun the passenger began to resist and reached for a second gun on the floor.
The second officer then shot their own gun, striking the passenger. The passenger was transported to a Kalamazoo hospital for non-life-threatening injuries.
Nobody else was injured during the incident and the two guns were recovered. The driver was arrested on charges related to the traffic stop.
As standard procedure, Michigan State Police are now looking into the incident and the offers are on paid leave pending the investigation’s outcome.
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