PENNFIELD TOWNSHIP (WKZO AM/FM) — A Pennfield Township man who came home drunk early Saturday Morning and got in a physical altercation with his wife is dead after he shot at her, their two sons and then police.
Calhoun County Sheriff Matt Saxton says 46-year-old Joel David Kellay threatened his wife with the gun and then shot in her direction as she fled next door to her parent’s house to call police.
His two sons tried to wrestle the gun away. A 22-year-old was shot in the abdomen and an 18-year-old was hit in the arm, but they managed to get the hand gun away from him and escape the house.
Kellay apparently rearmed himself with a shotgun and fled to an upstairs bedroom. That’s where two Battle Creek Officers and a County Deputy found him when they responded to the home on Kimball Avenue at about 4 am.
They say Kellay fired a shotgun blast at them but missed and they fired back, hitting and killing him.
Sheriff Saxton says “from the information I have at this time, there is nothing that leads me to believe that our officers did anything other than their job, and they did their job well.” He added, “Unfortunately in this case the officers involved had to use deadly force for their safety and the safety of others”.
Kellay’s two sons are receiving treatment at Bronson Methodist in Kalamazoo and are expected to survive their wounds.
The two Battle Creek Police Officers and one Deputy have been put on administrative leave with pay pending a routine shooting review by their respective departments. The domestic violence case has been turned over to the State Police.
