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Police arrest juvenile; ‘not speculating’ whether it’s tied to later officer-involved shooting

Posted at 5:04 PM, Sep 06, 2018
and last updated 2018-09-06 23:35:05-04

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. -- The Grand Rapids Police say a teenager taken into custody Thursday afternoon, after a perimeter was set up on the city's southeast side, has been transferred to the custody of Kent County

GRPD Chief David Rahinsky said in an 8 p.m. media briefing Thursday it would be "premature" to speculate on whether the incident was related to a subsequent officer-involved shooting on Howard Street, near Madison Avenue, around 6:25 p.m.Chief David Rahinsky says Michigan State Police will be handling the investigation into the officer-involved shooting, no one was injured in the shooting, and "there is no danger to the community." Per standard policy, Rahinsky says the officer has been placed on leave while the investigation continues. MSP arrived on the scene shortly before 8 p.m.

GRPD Twitter post

The first incident began around 3:52 p.m. Thursday, in the 900 block of Kalamazoo Avenue, near Alexander Street. Police set up a perimeter after at least one of the suspects initially refused to come out of the house, according to GRPD Lieutenant Terry Dixon.

At an early-evening impromptu news conference, Captain Geoff Collard told the media that police were conducting an investigation into 22 handguns that had been stolen in Kent County. He said the FBI and U.S. Marshal's Fugitive Task Force also were involved in the investigation, as they believed one of two suspects was in the area.

"They were conducting surveillance," said Collard, "at which point they noticed an individual come out of the residence...and confirmed it was the individual who was wanted on probable cause for stealing 22 handguns.

"At that point, we secured a perimeter around that house to contain the incident, to make sure the community was safe - and then began negotiations over a bullhorn for the individual to come out of the residence. "

Police say a 16-year-old boy eventually ran out of the house, and officers gave chase and took him into custody without further incident. Police also say the 16-year-old and a 15-year-old are suspects in an escape from a juvenile-detention facility in Muskegon.  Captain Collard says they also were suspected to have stolen a vehicle in Osceola County, and being involved in "multiple fleeing-and-eluding from law enforcement over the past couple of days".

In addition, police say the teens were wanted on probable cause that they committed a burglary in Kent County that resulted in the 22 firearms being stolen.

The GRPD said it a late-night news release Thursday that the guns were stolen from Miedema Asset Management Group in Byron Center: "Due to the suspects' recent rash of criminal involvement, as well as the unaccounted for stolen firearms, additional units from GRPD were called and the residence was contained to include full critical incident procedures. The Special Response Team, Major Case Detective Unit, K9 Unit, and Kent County Sheriff's Office Detectives were called to the scene.

Police said when they entered the house, they found three young children and an adult woman inside. The young children were turned over to the mother of two of them, who also lives with the third child. Child Protective Services also will be notified, according to Captain Collard.

Information was received that the suspect left 3 young children, all under 3 years of age and whom he was supposed to be baby-sitting, inside the home . To secure the safety of the children, officers chose to enter the home, and the children were safely reunited with family".

The GRPD says Kent County Sheriff's Office deputies executed a search warrant at the house, while Grand Rapids officers "stood by to assist...and custody of the suspect was transferred to Kent County.
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