KALAMAZOO, Mich. (WOOD) — Police say a fleeing assault suspect shot and injured a Kalamazoo Township officer Thursday morning in Kalamazoo, prompting officers to return fire.
As of late Thursday afternoon, the officer was in stable condition and the suspect was in critical condition, Kalamazoo Township Police Chief Bryan Ergang said during a news conference. He did not release either of their names.
“Every day, our police officers go out into our community to protect citizens, often people they don’t know, and respond to violent crimes to help protect our community,” Ergang said. “Today, one of our own was a victim of a crime.”
The situation started on the west side of Kalamazoo Township, near Kendall Street, according to the police chief. He said officers responded to an assault in which a suspect — described as a 23-year-old Portage man with a criminal history — assaulted his girlfriend and pointed a gun at her. The suspect has been out on parole since April 2024, Ergang said.
The suspect took off, according to Ergang. Around 11 a.m., officers tracked him to the area of Oakland Drive and Howard Street in Kalamazoo. There, Ergang said, two officers — one from Kalamazoo Township and one from Western Michigan University Public Safety — approached the suspect.
The police chief said the officers told the suspect to stop but the suspect tried to run away.
Body camera footage released by the police department shows the Kalamazoo Township officer running after the suspect, shouting “do not move” and “stop” repeatedly.
As the officers chased the suspect, Ergang said the suspect turned and fired a gun, hitting the Kalamazoo Township officer in the leg near the pelvis.
“I’m hit, I’m hit,” the officer reported in the bodycam footage. “I’m shot.”
Officers returned fire at the suspect, “who had not just threatened deadly force against officers, but took action by firing a handgun,” Ergang said.
To illustrate the timeline of events, the police department also released three images of the shooting taken from the officers’ body cameras. The first photo was from the point of view of the Kalamazoo Township officer.
“This shows (that) as the officer is pursuing the subject on foot, he (the suspect) draws a firearm and is about to direct it toward the officer,” Ergang said.
The second image was from the point of view of the WMU officer, who was trailing slightly behind.
“It shows our officer to the left, the suspect on the right with his handgun firing toward the officer. As you can see, our officer has not even had an opportunity to depend himself, as his weapon is still in his holster,” Ergang said.
The third photo, also from the WMU officer, shows the Kalamazoo Township officer being hit and the suspect continuing to run away, according to Ergang.
Both the Kalamazoo Township officer and the suspect were taken to the hospital.
The WMU officer has been placed on administrative leave and state police are investigating the shooting, which is all standard practice.
A News 8 crew on scene saw members of the Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety, Kalamazoo Township Police Department and WMU Public Safety set up a perimeter of Oakland Drive and Howard Street. Officers were also seen in the parking lot of the Kalamazoo Public Schools Administration building.
Kalamazoo Public Schools sent a message to the community saying that no district employees or students were involved in the shooting. Maple Street Magnet School for the Arts was put on lockdown for a short time while the administration building remains on lockdown while police investigate.
