KALAMAZOO, Mich. — A Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety officer shot and killed a man Sunday morning on S. Westnedge Avenue.
The man was armed according to police.
At 10:19 a.m. Sunday, KDPS officers responded to a report of suspected criminal activity in the 1000 block of S. Westnedge near Minor Avenue. While at the scene, a 33-year-old Battle Creek man fired shots with a handgun. One officer returned fire, striking the suspect, who was pronounced dead at the scene.
No officers were injured during the incident.
“After the first gunshot, I was like, 'There’s no way that is what it is,'” said Dylan Presnail, who lives next door. “By the next two, three, four [shots], it dawned on me. I got up and looked out my window, and I could see both cops had their guns pointed at the door.”
Presnail says he heard a total of six shots exchanged. He believes the suspect fired at least two shots.
Val Qejvani, who lives across the street from the house where the incident happened, said he saw the suspect at a second story window just before shots were exchanged.
Qejvani called people in the home “noisy” but did not personally know any of the people who lived there.
“Me and my buddy, [were] just watching through the window,” said Qejvani. “We were like ‘Okay, we see some cops.’ We’ve seen cops there before. So it was like, ‘Ok, nothing new really,’ but it was a little more surprising because the person was hanging out the window, acting really weird… they just seemed off; not normal human behavior.”
“It sucks that it’s happening so close to home,” said Dennis Gilmore, who lives nearby. “I have a 9 year old daughter, and I tried to keep her very safe, and I like to take her on walks down here a lot, and it’s very close to our walking path.”
Michigan State Police are now overseeing the investigation.
Anybody with any information is being asked to contact Kalamazoo County Dispatch at (269) 488-8911 or Silent Observer at (269) 343-2100.
