East Lansing fatal police shooting video released

East Lansing Police Department released videos Friday showing the fatal shooting of Isaiah Kirby on April 15.

The department released six body camera videos, three dashcams, a witness cell phone video and a 22-minute narrated video.

The videos show officers racing to a shopping plaza parking lot at Lake Lansing and Abbot roads, they were told en route that there had been a stabbing, which had been witnessed by at least three 911 callers who each gave a description of a black man wearing a black shirt and a pink or brown dew rag holding an apparent knife after stabbing someone.

Douglas Mielock, a local attorney, had just gotten his hair cut when he was stabbed.  His hairdresser was among the 911 callers who told police that he had been stabbed.

Kirby was a 21-year-old Michigan State University student who was expecting to graduate this spring and had a job interview lined up for the Austin Zoo, his family said.

East Lansing Police previously said they do not have video footage of the alleged stabbing, the videos they shared show Mielock bloodied and sitting on the ground. The Michigan State Police are investigating the incident, which is routine in cases involving deadly officer shootings.

Callers in the 911 tapes described watching a man holding a knife pacing in the parking lot, which matches a cell phone video that shows a man holding what appears to be a knife with his face blurred by police. 

See the videos (graphic)

The videos show three distinct barrages of police gunfire spread over about 23 seconds along with the moments leading up to the shooting and officers giving aid to Kirby and Mielock.

The shooting happened quickly.

Video from police vehicles and body cameras show there were only seconds between officers parking on the street, leaping out and at least one officer firing.

The video also shows Kirby running toward officers with the apparent knife prior to the shooting, he does not appear to slow as he came toward armed officers, and officers continued to yell at him to drop the knife.

One officer is shown in a vehicle as they are arriving, as they loaded a 40mm less-lethal weapon with a foam round. That officer leaves their vehicle and steps foot on the pavement at about the same moment another officer fired the first set of shots.

The less-lethal weapon was dropped, and that officer raised and appeared to load a handgun. 

On the body cameras, the first set of shots is fired at a timestamp of roughly 6:11:32.

There is a second set of shots fired more than 10 seconds later and a final set of shots fired several seconds afterward.

Officers yelled at Kirby to drop his knife throughout the encounter.

Kirby, who screamed in pain, appeared to crawl forward or attempt to stand between the second and third sets of shots.

The video does not show Kirby letting go of the apparent knife. Officers used a protective shield to cover his arms while another officer pull the object from his hand.

Mielock has been reported to be recovering from serious injuries, a family member gave an update earlier this week, during an East Lansing City Council meeting, saying that the attack had been devastating and that Mielock had been ambushed by someone he didn’t know.

Four officers have been placed on administrative duties.

The East Lansing Police Department identified Friday the four officers as Field Training Officer Beck Martin (three years with East Lansing Police Department), Officer Brennan Surman (two years with ELPD), Officer Benjamin Saylor (two years with ELPD) and Officer Zane Johnson Chasteen (three months, paired with Martin).

Teresa Caine Bingman, an attorney for Kirby’s family, said in a statement Friday evening that the videos show her son “was met with an immediate and overwhelming use of deadly force.”

She said officers did not use less lethal options and fired more than 20 rounds. Caine Bingman said Kirby appeared to be dead after the initial gunshot wounds and officers continued to fire, which she said was not “reasonable nor legally justified.”