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12-year-old handcuffed by police responding to reported shooting

Posted at 6:15 PM, Oct 15, 2018
and last updated 2018-10-15 18:15:54-04

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — The Grand Rapids Police Department says it is conducting an internal review after a 12-year-old child was handcuffed by officers responding to a shooting report last week.

Police say the incident happened after police were called to Batavia Place NE just north of E. Fulton Street at about 9:05 p.m. Oct. 9.

According to a Monday release,  someone called 911 to report a shooting at a neighboring house in the area.  A police transcript of the call says the person reported seeing a woman who came out of a house and said “Don’t shoot me,” before they heard shots.

No gunshot victims were found at the reported house and no evidence that there was a shooting was found either, the department said.

When officers arrived in the area, police say a car was leaving the residence where the shots were reported.  The people in the vehicle were detained and later released.

Police say they also made contact with four people inside the home, two of whom were children. It was at this time that the department says a 12-year-old child was handcuffed and searched for weapons before being released.

Other details about what led up to that were not released.  In January, the department announced efforts to enhance its officers’ training to add more scenarios involving children after 11-year-old Honestie Hodges was handcuffed and detained in December 2017.

Police say they are reviewing the responding officers’ body cameras for this latest incident.