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Deputies Shoot & Kill Man In Barry County

Posted at 2:43 AM, Feb 10, 2013
and last updated 2013-02-10 23:10:25-05

BALTIMORE TOWNSHIP, Mich. — The Michigan State Police are investigating a deadly officer involved shooting that occurred Saturday evening in Barry County.

Barry County Sheriff Dar Leaf told FOX17 NEWS that the deadly shooting occurred following a domestic violence complaint at a home in Baltimore Township where a man was shot and killed by a Barry County Sheriff’s Department deputy.

The investigation is now being handled by the Michigan State Police. MSP Detective Chuck Christensen told FOX 17 NEWS that at 6:19 p.m. Saturday deputies were called to a domestic situation involving a man and a gun at 9840 Banfield Road in Dowling. By 7 p.m. five deputies were on the scene. There was a short standoff in the driveway of the home and the five deputies fired five shots, the man was hit and later died at Pennock Hospital in Hastings.

The dead man was identified as Ralph Oliver Elliott, 41. He lived near the address where the shooting occurred, which was a family member’s residence. Elliott was the only one there at the time of the shooting.

Christensen said Elliott fired two gunshots prior to the deputies’ arrival.

Christensen said that at 8 p.m. Saturday the Michigan State Police were contacted by the Sheriff’s Department to conduct the shooting investigation.

An autopsy, additional interviews with deputies, ballistics and toxicology reports are all pending. Once MSP gets those all compiled, the entire investigation will be forwarded to the Barry County Prosecutor’s Office for review.