GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — The Grand Rapids Police Department released video from the deadly officer-involved shooting from Saturday, showing the moments up to the officers opened fire.
The publication of the video came four days after officers killed the man who threatened several people with a knife, threw a Molotov cocktail at a police cruiser, and stabbed a police K9, according to the department.
Interim Chief Joe Trigg held a media briefing Wednesday, naming the suspect as Eddie Deans. The footage included clips from body-worn cameras and dash cameras.
The situation started Saturday, May 30, around 1:30 p.m., when Deans reportedly threatened family members with a knife. Officers arrived at the home on Alpine Avenue, spending roughly an hour outside before Deans ran out the backdoor and threw a Molotov cocktail at an officer and his cruiser.
The officer wasn't hurt and damage to the cruiser was minimal, said Trigg.
Grand Rapids
GRPD: Man shot and killed after throwing Molotov cocktail, stabbing police K9
The man was able to run from officers, then tried to steal a person's car at knife-point. The driver was able to thwart the attempted carjacking, according to police.
A home surveillance camera captured Deans' carjacking attempt before he ran off with an officer in pursuit.
Deans tried to break into a home Widdicomb Avenue near 12 Street, but police caught up to him before he got inside, the department previously reported. That's when officers sent K9 Digo in to take the man down and the dog was stabbed.
Three angles from the encounter behind the home on Widdicomb Avenue were shared.
Officers fired two 40 millimeter non-lethal rounds at Deans in hopes of getting him to comply with orders to surrender.
Instead, Deans moved at the officers, still armed with a knife in his hand. That's when one officer opened fire, striking Deans. That officer fired 4 to 5 shots, according to Trigg.
The officer who fired remains on administrative leave, pending the investigation by Michigan State Police.
FOX 17 spoke with Taylor, the woman who lives in that home. She described the confrontation between the suspect and the officers.
“Probably about 15, 20 seconds later, they rushed to the backyard. I heard ‘he's here, he's here.’ I thought they were in the neighbor's yard because my yard is completely fenced in, and it turns out he was in my backyard, because 5, 10 seconds later I heard gunshots," Taylor said. "I had a tank in front of my house, I had a police dog, I had at least 20 officers."
Watch: Neighbor describes deadly officer-involved shooting
“There's two bullet holes in my house, one is very close to where the window was that I was standing at, where I saw the police officer, and I was standing right there when the gunshots went off," Taylor said. “They literally drug his body from the dirt under my landlord's stairs onto my back porch. There's multiple blood stains in my cement.”
Grand Rapids
Police: K9 'expected to fully recover' after being stabbed by suspect
K9 Digo was treated at an emergency animal hospital and is recovering at home. While he is expected to make a full recovering, it won't be clear whether Digo will return to service until he undergoes testing following his recovery, said police.
