WYOMING, Mich. — Two Wyoming police officers were justified in using deadly force in a mid-September confrontation, according to the Kent County prosecutor.
On September 16, the Wyoming Police Department responded to a home on Lemyra Street SE near Jefferson Avenue for a report of an armed man violating a personal protection order. There officers found 31-year-old Luis Hernan Fernandez Sandoval who was holding a handgun.
Two officers opened fire on Sandoval, resulting in his death.
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Today, less than a month after the shooting, Prosecutor Chris Becker announced the two officers were justified in firing their weapons.
The officers had been on paid administrative leave while the Kent County Sheriff's Office handled the investigation and the prosecutor's office reviewed the case file.
New updates in the case
During Tuesday's press conference, Becker laid out new details from the day of the shooting.
Sandoval's aunt-in-law called 911 around 1 a.m. on September 16, reporting he was at the home's front door and may be armed. Sandoval and his wife had separated just over a week before, with him moving out of the home shared with other members of her family, according to the prosecutor.
The family reported to police about two hours before that Sandoval had tried to enter the home by entering a code on the front door's smart lock. However, that code had been changed after Sandoval moved out.
That first attempt did not include any violence, with Sandoval recorded on a doorbell camera leaving the front porch.
But the second try, Sandoval returned with force, kicking the door, throwing things at it, then finally shooting out a window. He used the opening to unlock the door and enter the home, per investigators.
The aunt called 911 when Sandoval was on the front porch hitting the door. Recordings of the 911 call captured the bangs of his fists and feet striking the door, then the gun shots that broke the glass.
Once inside family said Sandoval started searching the home for his wife, even putting a gun to the head of one of her relatives, shouting, "show me where she is at!"
His wife hid in the closet of a child's bedroom.
One of the men deceived Sandoval, telling him his wife was hiding downstairs. As he led Sandoval down the stairs, they spotted the two police officers at the front door.
The man, the aunt, and her daughter bolted, running out the front door as Sandoval retreated into a hallway. Another man who had been inside the home, told the officers that Sandoval, who was dressed in a black shirt, was the suspect and he was armed.
The aunt told the officers that more people were still hiding in the home.
At that point officers Roetman and Borns, the first two who responded to the scene, saw Sandoval partially hidden in the hall, using the wall for cover. Despite orders to come out, he remained in the hallway. Officer Borns told investigators that Sandoval then came to the hall's entry with "both arms fully extended out while holding a pistol pointed at me."
Once all of the people running from the home were clear, the two officers opened fire, feeling Sandoval was an imminent threat to themselves and the people in the home.
After the shots, Sandoval fell, with only his feet visible from the front door. The officers waited for backup before entering the home, finding the 31-year-old dead. His gun lay on the floor near his body.
The medical examiner reported at least two bullets fired by the officers struck Sandoval: one injuring his left ear and neck; the other lodged in his torso just below the rib cage. Neither injury was fatal, per the autopsy report. Instead it was a self-inflicted shot to the head that killed Sandoval.
In his judgement, Prosecutor Becker determined officers Roetman and Borns acted with complete justification in firing at Sandoval. Becker cited how the 31-year-old had already fired several shots that morning, threatened members of the family, and was pointing a gun at the officers.
No criminal charges will be filed against the officers.
