KALAMAZOO, Mich. - The Kalamazoo County Prosecutor has released his final report on the officer-involved shooting of two brothers.
Prosecuting Attorney Jeffrey Getting says that the six officers reviewed in the incident will not face charges and that the shooting was justified.
The incident happened on May 14 after a chase. Sean Pelletier, 37, was killed in the shootout with police after he allegedly pointed an AK-type assault rifle at several officers.
Police fired 45 shots, Sean suffered 18 of them.
His brother, Aaron Pelletier, 29, was seriously wounded.
"There was nothing that could be done at that point. When a semi-automatic rifle is brought out of the vehicle there's nothing to do but respond with immediate deadly force, which is what the police did," said Getting.
The chase began on the eastern end of Kalamazoo County and lasted roughly 30 minutes. Police told FOX 17 they were attempting to arrest one of the brothers on a warrant related to an on-going and 'volatile' eviction situation involving the man's mother.
Police knew the brothers owned several firearms which is why they attempted to make the arrest away from the home.
Getting showed off some of the weapons found with the Pelletiers at an afternoon news conference Friday. His presentation included pictures of the 29 weapons and 140 rounds of ammunition that was recovered from both the Pelletiers' car and home.
Getting says although the chase ended fatally, police did what they had to do to keep the public and fellow officers safe.
"This was not overkill by the police there were multiple officers firing multiple times the public was put at risk not by what the police did but what the Pelletiers did. It was a very dangerous situation," said Getting.
State Police say they have sent a request for charges against Aaron Pelletier to the prosecutor's office, but the prosecutor did not comment on whether or not he will be charged in the case.
