ALGOMA TOWNSHIP, Mich. -- Friends of the man who was shot and killed by a Kent County Sheriff's Department deputy Tuesday says they can't believe what happened. Jonathan Sper, 30, was killed Tuesday evening after officers responded to the 4000 block of Summit Court NE on a domestic call that involved Sper and his brother.
Investigators say Sper was shot after he got into a fight with a deputy who was trying to break up a scuffle between the brothers.
One of Sper's friends says the incident is almost unbelievable.
"Brothers fight," said Kyler Krieg, a longtime friend of Sper's who now lives in California. "Do I think what happened should have happened? Under no circumstances, with the information given, should I think this should be the outcome."
"He wasn't handed the best cards in life, and he definitely doesn't deserve this," Krieg said.
Krieg said he had been texting Sper quite often and that Sper was planning to move out to California and stay with Krieg as Sper looked for new opportunities in sales and finance.
"Any opportunity I have to help someone I consider a friend -- which I definitely do consider Jon a friend -- I would be happy to help him out and to have another person from Michigan out here."
It was a reunion Krieg was looking forward to, but now it will never happen. Krieg says he is waiting to hear from police about the incident on whether Sper was armed and what sparked the argument in the first place.
The Wyoming Police Department is investigating the incident to avoid potential conflicts of interest in the Kent County Sheriff's Department.
The deputy involved in the shooting hasn't been identified and is on paid administrative leave, which is standard protocol in a case like this.
