ALGOMA TOWNSHIP (AP) — The fatal shooting of a 30-year-old man during a struggle with a sheriff's deputy in western Michigan has been ruled justified.
Kent County Prosecutor Chris Becker says in a report released Tuesday that Deputy Jason Wiersma shot Jonathan Sper to protect Sper's adult brother.
Wiersma and a second deputy were called Jan. 24 to the Algoma Township home after the brother refused to allow Sper into the house.
The deputies said they fought with Sper in a garage.
Becker wrote that Wiersma mistakenly believed Sper had a sharp object and ordered him to drop it. He said Wiersma was concerned Sper would attack his brother inside the house.
Becker also wrote that Sper suffered from a mental illness and had been drinking.
- Posted March 29, 2017
- Tweet This | Share on Facebook
Prosecutor rules man's fatal shooting by deputy justified
headlines Macomb
- Multi-purpose: Attorney brings decades of experience to new role
- State Bar seminar to focus on election law issues
- Man arraigned on charges including aggravated child sexually abusive activity
- Nessel urges residents to report threats, suspicious activity following Temple Israel attack
- Woman sentenced after pleading no contest to charge related to death of woman on I-696
headlines National
- Online shoppers find deals on the Temu app, but states say the trade-off is personal data
- Florida Bar reverses itself, says it is not investigating Lindsey Halligan
- Attorney indicted for trying to kill her husband of more than 25 years
- American Bar Association cites members’ needs in law firm intimidation hearing
- OpenAI sued for practicing law without a license
- Lindsey Halligan being investigated by the Florida Bar
