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Police Involved Shootings

Woman killed in Mich. 'armed with 3-ton vehicle'

Katrease Stafford
Detroit Free Press

DETROIT — The identity of a woman who was killed by Dearborn police following a chase Wednesday outside the Fairlane Town Center was released Thursday by authorities, who said they are collecting possible surveillance videos and dashcam footage of the fatal shooting.

Dearborn police are at the scene of a shooting near Fairlane Town Center.

The woman was identified as Detroit resident Janet Wilson, according to the Medical Examiner's Office, which said the manner of death was ruled a homicide and was caused by multiple gunshot wounds. Wilson's death marked the second fatal shooting involving the department in recent months.

Michigan State Police First Lt. Michael Shaw confirmed Thursday the woman was not armed with a gun, but said she was "armed with a three-ton vehicle."

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"Armed or unarmed, what does that mean exactly?" Shaw said. "I think everyone wants it to be clear-cut, but more police officers are killed during the year with a vehicle than guns. ... So was she armed? Absolutely."

Shaw said investigators are re-interviewing some witnesses and collecting video footage from around the mall and any video that might be assigned to the patrol cars that were involved in the accident. Dearborn police issued a statement saying the department was "deeply saddened" by the shooting and was cooperating with the investigation.

The incident began at 4:10 p.m. at JCPenney, around the time when mall security arrived to a scene involving a woman who was "distraught." Witnesses described Wilson as having “some type of mental incapacity,” and soon after mall security arrived, she became “combative” and drove off, nearly striking mall security with the car, Shaw said Wednesday.

Wilson fled in a black Chevrolet and Dearborn police chased it, but within a block or two, the woman was stopped in traffic on Hubbard Drive, and officers tried to approach the vehicle to arrest her, Shaw said.

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"After that she continued on down Hubbard, got caught up in traffic congestion and her vehicle was stopped," Shaw said.  He said officers approached the vehicle on the driver's side of the car and some toward the front of the car and attempted to arrest her.

The woman again tried to flee, almost running over an officer in the process, Shaw said.

"At that moment in time, traffic cleared, she was able to accelerate, almost striking one of the officers who was on foot," Shaw said. "And one of the on scene officers discharged their duty weapon, striking the suspect and killing them."

The woman was taken to a hospital and pronounced dead. An officer was also treated for non-life-threatening injuries. Shaw said he could not confirm whether the officer involved in the shooting has been placed on administrative leave, but he said it's typical for departments to do so after such an incident.

The Detroit Coalition Against Police Brutality released a statement late Wednesday, saying the organization is "on high alert" after the second recent fatal shooting involving Dearborn police.

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The organization also decried the death of Kevin Matthews, 35, a black man from Detroit who police say was shot multiple times by a Dearborn officer Dec. 23 after a struggle.

Police have said Matthews was unarmed, wanted on a probation violation warrant and suspected in a larceny.

Dearborn police Chief Ronald Haddad issued a statement Thursday that said: "The Dearborn Police Department is deeply saddened by the two officer-involved fatal shooting incidents that have occurred over the past month. Both of the officer-involved shooting incidents are being independently criminally investigated by outside agencies, and we are totally committed to transparency and disclosure by fully cooperating with these investigations.

"While we are very proud of our long history of civil rights advocacy as well as our history of appropriate use of force, we will closely examine all of our policies and procedures to ensure that we are employing the latest training and following national best practices in all of our responsibilities to the community.

"Once we are allowed and it is appropriate to do so, we fully intend to make public disclosures regarding these incidents."

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Matthews' family members have said that Matthews was mentally ill and describe him as a gentle man, despite his having fled from police and having struggled with the officer trying to arrest him.

"Once again, we see the specter of law enforcement's inability to serve individuals who have a mental incapacity," said Coalition President Sandra Hines in a news release. "We continue to urge more training in this regard. It appears that police sworn to 'protect and serve' are instead exercising target practice on Detroiters and persons of color, now tragically ending in the death of yet another Detroit individual. This is a pattern and practice that we must break. The coalition will be looking into this matter, and continues to hold the government, and particularly law enforcement, accountable for actions they take against citizens."

Shaw confirmed that Wilson was black and said the officer who shot her is white, but he rebuffed claims that officers are "exercising target practice on Detroiters and persons of color."

"I think it’s important to say that yes there’s color involved … but to take a look at it and say it’s a black-and-white issue, it’s ridiculous," he said. "We have a family that lost a loved one. They’re not going to get her back. We have a police officer who has taken someone’s life and he’s going to have to deal with that for the rest of his life. It doesn’t matter what the color is. We have to determine what occurred through a very fair and impartial investigation to make sure the prosecution has everything she possibly needs to get this case where it needs to go. I think it’s totally unfair to assume that the drive is at fault, just like it’s unfair to assume the police officer is at fault. ... To say law enforcement is targeting black people by target practice, it's ridiculous."

Contributing: Niraj Warikoo, Daniel Bethencourt and Bill Laitner, Detroit Free Press. Follow Katrease Stafford on Twitter: @KatreaseS_freep

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